


Four Down, One To Go

by cookie5228



Category: Splatoon
Genre: A Foot in Two Worlds, Childhood Friends, Childhood Memories, Female Agent 3 (Splatoon), Female Agent 4 (Splatoon), Gen, Hero Mode (Splatoon), Near Death Experiences, Original Character(s), Originally Posted Elsewhere, Tournaments, Undercover Missions, concern for the happy kid, the author is a severe procrastinator
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-02
Updated: 2021-02-08
Packaged: 2021-03-13 11:48:04
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 25,760
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29153025
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cookie5228/pseuds/cookie5228
Summary: The annual Iiyama tournament is almost shut down because of the sudden disappearance of the Great Zapfish, and everyone is shocked to hear Callie is gone too. Once Marie sets eyes on her talent, Orca Moon's only girl Bailey has another thing to deal with in secret.All characters that are not my own or originally from Splatoon/Splatoon 2 are from friends and from other writers and artists on the Splatoon Amino. All characters that are not originally from Splatoon/Splatoon 2 should not be used without credit.





	1. Prologue

Marie sighed as she slouched further down the armchair sat in her Grandfather's isolated cabin, watching the TV’s sickening static instead of the dawn break outside. Ever since the Squid Sister Splatfest, Marie - and her cousin, Callie - watched Off The Hook’s few month short career be taken by the young twin duo Siren’s Flow. They brought a new yet familiar vibe to the scene, and Marie would scoff whenever she saw them - they reminded her of the old days.

Callie never watched with Marie for long.

After her solo career skyrocketed, the cousins saw less and less of each other, meaning Morgan - the newest recruit who now went by Three - took the post at Octo Valley. Cap’n Cuttlefish took her to train on Mt. Nantai, but Marie had found that neither had been responsive. Panicking that she was now away from family, Octavio was now another thing fresh in her mind.

At first, she believed that the high-pitched gurgled laughter of the Octolings in her dream was just that, in her dream, but the shrill-spiked shatter of glass had jolted her unconscious senses. Running outside with a cold sweat, she was faced with a destroyed globe, the surrounding area coated in ink, oozing a sickly magenta shade. Quickly trying to catch her breath back, she nimbly walked up to the globe’s base, avoiding the ink and specks of cracked glass. Kneeling down, a heavy heat radiated from the area, but one thing she was quick to notice was that the point of impact left almost all the glass on the inside. He couldn't have escaped. Someone must have broken him out.

The annual Iiyama tournament had teams from all over Inkopolis enter, but Marie shuddered, knowing that with the loss of the Zapfish, who knew if it had to be cancelled. But if the Square was going to be packed, she could pick out someone to help her. She wouldn’t have to risk her identity, or even her life.

One kid would help her.

Right?


	2. The Start Of Something Special

“With the Iiyama tournament set to start this day, hundreds of teams are making their way here to Inkopolis Square. The infamous team Angel Raid have come back once again to try and stop fan-favourite Mariana Snow winning for the fifth time in a row. This i-” The sound of the overhead announcers were drowned out by one of the teams waiting on the platform. Two young boys were almost as loud as Pearl - their similar appearance confirming, something, at least.

“You’re not even in it for the Siren’s Flow Tour ‘Chai!” One of them spat. “The Squid Sisters don’t even live in Inkopolis Square!” The team leader winced in defeat, and whipped his head around to the other two; one fast asleep and the other dozing off.

“Hey!” Malachai called out to the short-haired girl whose dull orange eyes were slowly closing.

“Before you say anything, her name is Bailey, not Zeta.”

“Roman is ‘Chai using my match name again?” Bailey huffed out, tilting her arms and head back further over the back of the metallic bench. “We all know how much of a ‘leader’ you are.” The naturally carefree girl was only grouchy because Malachai suggested taking the ‘scenic route’, but they had to wake up before the sun. Around the back of Mt. Nantai, across the edge of Elver’s End - the team’s residence, down the Fall, before levelling out against Downtown Escolar and stopping at Inkopolis Square’s Central Station. She jolted her head up, leaving the brothers’ view of her unnatural. “By the way, whatever you do, don’t wake us up. Mainly me, because Astra’s invisible to you apparently.” They gazed over to Astra, who was out cold against their bags and suitcases, most of which were Malachai’s.

“So, Roman, what team do we have to destroy first?” Malachai sassily flipped his fringe and tied his ponytail tighter. Roman took out his phone to find the tournament table.

“I believe they’re called Ca-”

“It’s just some generic city team. Who cares?” Bailey intervened. “Remember, they have the advantage. They know the layouts, the ambush points. Watch when you force me to polo and backlog centre as you rush sides, I just know it.”

“I just can’t wait to get my hands on those Letras.” Malachai evilly rubbed his hands together, completely ignoring Bailey. Roman split his gaze between the official team leader and the unofficial team leader in confusion.

“Rather ask Capri for those ‘Shot trigger springs rather than Sheldon, Bailey. That crab is lethal when it comes to talking about weapon tech.” Roman scoffed.

Bailey wasn’t listening. She was looking at the Inkopolis map with a now awake Astra. Roman and Malachai jolted once they realised Astra was awake, as the awe-stricken noise he made almost echoed in their ears.

“That’s Quillback Manor! Mariana Snow’s .52 Gal lives there!” Malachai looked over in confusion, but saw what they were talking about once Bailey extended her arm, phone in hand.

“There’s a chance you’re gonna meet ‘im in person if you wanna.” Bailey scoffed, knowing the posh kid’s team were ready to battle, as always.

The short-circuit of the overhead radio made everyone perk up towards it.

“Our producer’s freaking out over something and we’ve had to do an emergency broadcast on his request. Has something gone wrong?” Ria’s normally dominant voice was riddled with confusion. “Read the teleprompter Coral!”

“Huh?” Coral sounded unphased. “Let’s see here...” The sudden shock in her voice confused many kids. “Hang on! The Great Zapfish has disappeared!” Several kids freaked out. The tournament was to start that day. Would they have enough power, even with the back-up generators? “This sounds like this has already happened though...” Bailey pondered. Coral was right, that Callie and Marie announced 2 years ago the Great Zapfish was missing, but it came back within the following weeks. Rumours were this ‘Agent Three’ brought it back. Was it true, or was it a rumour like all the others?

“Surely it will come back soon.” Astra had a sense of pleading in his voice. “Right?”

“Oh cod there’s something else isn’t there.” Ria lightly moaned, watching Coral change the screen. “Watch when someone has gone missing as well.”

“And that someone is none other than popstar Callie of the Squid Sisters.” Coral finished matter-of-factly. Astra jumped up and over to cover Malachai’s mouth before he could scream, but he still pushed it away.

“Not Callie! This is terrible!” Malachai whined, with a few other kids on the platform. This news had crushed this Squid Sister fan’s dreams. Bailey, on the other hand, didn’t really care about the latter news in the slightest, so she decided to joke about it.

“You’re buying the food As’. You know the rules.” She changed topics with a sly smile.

“Of course something had to happen!” Astra flipped his arms up before crossing them angrily. The close friends made a bet that if something Squid Sister related made Malachai lose it before they lose the tournament, Astra would have to buy the first round of food. If nothing happened, Bailey would have to give back the money Astra spent on said food.

“Remember, this isn’t the point of why we’re going to Inkopolis Square, you do realise that?” Roman composedly picked up his bags, watching the train pull into view.

“Exactly! Forget about the Squid Sisters.” Bailey turned away from Malachai’s dropped jaw, even if Astra had to close it, as for comedic effect. “Hell, forget about Mariana Snow and Angel Raid. Just know, Orca Moon is going to crush this.”


	3. Apartments and Coffee

The Square was the obvious centre light of Inkopolis, although the Great Zapfish’s dents were now visible around the peak of Deca Tower. Kids from all over would battle, shop, enlist in new jobs, find new friends, even enemies, and just generally wander around. No exception for Orca Moon. They were all sporting their unusually electric indigo, so some attention was given as they walked through the Square.

“So we all know what we’re doing then.” Roman stretched his arms as he spoke. “We’ll start by dumping our stuff in our rooms, since I don’t think Astra wants to be carrying both his and Malachai’s stuff around...”

“And I’ll have to buy the food...” Astra muttered, searching his pockets to see if he had cash on his card. Bailey looked over at the older Eidley twin to see him stuck in thought. Malachai was set on getting on the Light Tetra Dualies, knowing what havoc he could make with the Autobomb Launcher on a weapon he could actually use. He didn’t care if Sheldon was going to bait him out of it and into buying another weapon, he was going to get it. Snapping out of his trance, he finally responded.

“We’ll go to Ammo Knights to think about upgrading our weapons afterwards. Then we’ll wait for the first match.”

Bailey chuckled.

“So what’s your plan then, Miss Ravize?” Roman retorted.

“Any need for that?” Malachai judged his brother, forgetting he would often call out surnames instead of forenames.

“As if all that’s gonna happen in the time we have.” Bailey knew that, although they had several hours to waste, they would be cutting it close if they tried to gather their surroundings and if they got caught up in Sheldon’s love for weapons. “Don’t you remember ‘Chai? We’re in the first match. So, if you wanna be late because of Sheldon, I’m not stopping ya.”

“He doesn’t talk that much.” Astra subtly exaggerated his statement. “Does he?”

“If you were to follow me, I say: Apartments, food, wander if we have the time, match, then weapons.” She listed on her fingers.

The apartments were set up for any team who lived further than the Square, and it was stuck in the grey area between the Square and the north east of Downtown Escolar, just past Grizzco Industries. Unfortunately for Orca Moon, they had to walk up several flights of stairs to get to their rooms.

“I still can’t believe you got your own room!” Astra whined, watching Bailey turn right instead of left to the room he, as well as Roman and Malachai, had to sleep in. “And-”

“Oh cod it’s tiny!” Bailey giggled in defeat, thinking her duffel bags wouldn’t fit through the door.

“The Admins felt sorry for her because she’s our only girl, so of course she would get her own room.” Malachai also loudly moaned, wishing he was in Bailey’s position. Bailey, on the other hand, was graceful with tripping over her bags while trying to push them in.

“You're such an idiot ‘Lee.” Roman stated, quickly closing his mouth once she realised Bailey had perked up from that statement.

“Yeah, well...” She struggled to remark back. “I don't have to deal with ‘Chai's snoring.” She could hear the muffled annoyed sounds from the door as she closed it.

Now that they didn’t have to deal with hauling around their bags, they still had hours to spare, so they walked around the Square. Sitting down at one of the nearby tables with the food they ordered, Bailey saw a team all with golden ink walking towards Deca Tower. She squinted at them, before her eyes widened with realisation. She whacked Roman, who almost choked on his drink.

“Guys.” She hissed. “Head’s up. That’s our first match.”

“They don't have a heavyweight weapon.” Astra pointed out.

“The Tenta counts.” Bailey corrected, implicitly pointing at a young boy struggling to carry the Tenta Sorella Brella he was holding, among the other bags he had. “Although, I think you mean Rollers and Splatlings as classes, not the specific weapons themselves.”

“I just forgot my Tenta's a heavy.” He muttered in defeat.

“We'd better go anyway.” Roman almost ushered Astra and Bailey towards Deca Tower. “But someone will have to get Mal-” Malachai walked out of Ammo Knights with a pair of white Dualies and a massive grin on his face.

“Okay Mr. Tetra, no need to flaunt.” Bailey joked, knowing Malachai was going to pose with his new weapon. “We were gonna head in since we saw our opponents.”

“If we all know what we need to do,” Malachai twiddled his Light Tetra Dualies on his fingers. “then Orca Moon's gonna slay some babes.”

Gliding over the fact they were fighting in a shopping centre, Bailey was the only one that wasn’t shaking with anticipation. She had to do what she expected, to hold off the entire team in the centre while her team went down the sides. No one had noticed the cameras, for the greater good.

“Welcome to the first match of the annual Iiyama tournament!” The announcer started. All Bailey wished was to get straight into the match. “Beginner country team Orca Moon are going against team Caffinene. The battle will start in three...” Bailey’s ears twitched and drowned out all sound as she gripped her Splattershot harder. She lowered herself, ready for the moment to be released. She looked dead ahead, waiting to race past her team. It was all a matter of time.

“Go!” And she was off in seconds. Astra slid his Tenta Brella down the left path while Roman and Malachai took their respective Heavy Splatling and Light Tetra Dualies around the right section. Bailey shot around the centre with determination, holding back the ball in her throat. Everything was already a violent spray of indigo and gold.

Having already taken a few hits from Roman's Heavy Splatling, Bailey was able to throw out two successional Burst Bombs to splat the New Squiffer targeting her. She swam up one of the centre blocks to take out the Tenta Sorella Brella, after she broke the ‘defensive shield’ Beakon placed in front of them. As the L-3 Nozzlenose ran up to her, the kid with the Googla Dualies Deco dashed behind Bailey, but her quick thinking made her flip over him, throwing out a Burst Bomb and pellets of ink in succession, splatting him. She ducked into her ink and swam around the back of the L-3 Nozzlenose and splatted her too.

Orca Moon looked over at Bailey, who was grinning with success. She had single-handedly teamwiped, in a matter of seconds. She could hear the commentator through the roar of the crowd outside.

“...my eyes. That Splattershot just teamwiped all by herself! Orca Moon have the upper hand now!”

While closer to the opposing spawn, Bailey, who was now behind Astra's Tenta Brella shield, noticed the Googla Dualies Deco in the corner of her eye a second too late as they were both splatted. Roman winced slightly, before quickly avenging them.

“Beta, fake spec’ backlog now. Zeta, AutoDown roundup when you hit spec’.” Malachai hissed through his earpiece. Roman swam back and unleashed his Stingray, purposely failing to hit anyone. As Malachai rounded up the enemy team with his Autobomb Launcher, Bailey superjumped to the centre of the circle made by the Caffinene members and Splashdowned seconds prior to landing, getting another reaction out of the commentator.

“She just teamwiped again! Even under her leader's guidance, this girl is a monster!”

Malachai superjumped back to spawn to try and cover the rest of Orca Moon’s spawn as Bailey led the forward push.

“Alpha! The L-3 went rogue after you.” Roman noticed the L-3 Nozzlenose slip behind and around the New Squiffer as he was fighting.

“I’ll deal the Squiff. Go after that L-3 Theta!” Bailey hissed, not blinking at the sight of the other three advancing on her. They had less than a minute, so all she had to do hold her ground.

“You gonna pull an Elisae again Zeta?”

“Only three, but obvs.” Bailey lightly chuckled, purposefully tripping to fake vulnerability.

“The Splattershot’s fallen! Get her!” The New Squiffer yelled out, signalling for the Tenta Sorella Brella to cover the Googla Dualies Deco as they progressed. Bailey sunk into her ink, and waited for the Dualies to dash over her. Caffinene were all so highly predictable. Bailey jumped up, throwing both possible Burst Bombs at her feet, quickly splatting him, yet again. She tried to jump over the Brella’s shield, but the New Squiffer finally understood Bailey’s sporadicness, and sniped her before she had the chance to jump. The Brella launched his shield to gain some final points before the sirens rang.

It wasn't worth it. Orca Moon won 63.4% to 27.1%.

“Do we even need to go to Sheldon now?” Bailey slightly whined, walking out of Deca Tower exhausted. “There's no rush for those coils. I don’t want to think about the next match until we need to.”

“I think I’m crashing from the adrenaline...” Astra yawned, dropping his Tenta Brella to stretch his arms. “But what else could we do?”

“Well I already know!” Malachai still had the energy to drag Astra towards a turquoise building nearby, picking up his brella before either of them lost their footing on it. Roman, in defeat of his brother being over the top, sighed as he turned to Bailey.

“Guessing we'll meet you back at the apartments then.” He could see her raised eyebrows. “Don’t worry, we won't go broke. Hopefully.”

“Whatever.” Bailey scoffed, watching Roman run off with the other two.

Now that everything died down, Bailey main thought was to sleep her victory off, but as she turned towards the apartments, something, or for a better term, someone, stopped her in her thoughts. A girl in a black kimono was staring at her? Her face was covered by a lime-ish green parasol that was absentmindedly twirled in her thin-framed hands. Bailey opened her mouth to call out to the girl, but closed it, not knowing what to say. The parasol lifted slightly and Bailey could see short grey tentacles slightly covering sloped eyes. Was it who she thought it was? She unpredictably slipped through the rusted gate beneath them. Bailey, in a fleet of unexpected panic, ran over, and after scanning to make sure the coast was clear, she slipped through the grate, wondering if they wanted her to follow in the first place.


	4. Outpost Agent

This new place was actually a place that Bailey had seen before. She had been training on Mt. Nantai, the camp nearest Elver's End, and would often see blurred figures in a place just like this, with the floating technology and everything. The figure, who was idly standing in a light cascade of blossom petals, turned, and lifted the parasol from over their face. Out of every possible person in the world, the one and only Squid Sister popstar Marie stood before her. The same Marie that woke Inkopolis up with her witty remarks the years prior to the end of her career. Confusion turned to astonishment. Bailey’s jaw dropped. She knew that, if Malachai found out about this, she wouldn’t live to tell the story.

“Wow, I'm surprised you followed. This is already promising.” Bailey was unable to hear Marie through the star-struck awe running around her mind. “Look, you need to get over this idolisation. We don't have long.”

“Uh...” Bailey stammered, unable to comprehend what was happening.

“I’m guessing I’m going to have to explain everything, even if I so desperately need your help...” Marie sighed. “This is Octo Canyon, and right now, we’re in Tentakeel Outpost. Your job, if you choose to accept it, is to beat the Octarian Menace, and bring back the Great Zapfish and Callie.”

Bailey still stood there dumbfounded and tried to process what was happening. She had followed a girl in a kimono down and around a weird tunnel and ended up in a place with floating rocks. The girl ended up being the forever famous Marie, who has said she needs help. She would have to fight Octarians or something. Marie had continued, but noticing Bailey’s confusion, she slowed down, bringing her witty remarks back.

“For someone who comes from Elver’s End, you should know a whole lot more about this.” She cracked a smile with her declaration.

“How do yo-” Bailey mouthed, baffled.

“Elver’s End and Mt. Nantai were the two main training spaces for the Squidbeak Splatoon during the Great Turf War, weren’t they?”

“That’s what Elisae said...” Bailey muttered. “She also said the war turned cold. No one ever believed her.”

“Birch? You mean you know Commander Elisae Birch?” Now Marie was shocked.

“She helps us train for tournaments and stuff...”

“This is even better!” Marie exclaimed, even if her fatigue was wearing her reaction down. “Although she is right. The war’s been cold for years, and it warmed up about two years ago, when they took the Great Zapfish.”

“The Octarians took it?!” Bailey stood there stunned. Marie simply nodded. “But who brought it back? Did it just come back by itself?”

“Agent 3.” So that kid was right. There was an Agent 3, and by Bailey’s guess, they brought it back. “Under the guidance of Agents 1 and 2 of the New Squidbeak Splatoon, she brought back the Great Zapfish by defeating Octavio.”

“But how do you know this? All of this?”

“Well,” Marie began, Bailey knowing she was prideful. “Callie and I put up a pretty good act, and I’m surprised Embermane could keep her mouth shut. I, in fact, am Agent 2. Callie, who is Agent 1, has gone missing. It’s presumed Octavio took Callie with the Great Zapfish. Three is nowhere to be seen or heard, even if she’s supposed to be with the Capt’n on Mt. Nantai...”

“That’s why you said you needed help. I guess you don’t want to blow your cover if you’re alone.”

“Precisely.” Marie finished. Bailey silently gulped, now realising what Marie was asking of her.

“I’m not prepared for this!” Bailey finally blurted out in panic. “Elisae only taught us so we could compete in Iiyama, since Ateqk was cancelled. I wou-”

“You should never underestimate Elisae Birch. She may have trained you in the way that you think, but her tactics can be molded to fit both battlefields. I saw you fight in that first match, and I can see Elisae in you.” Bailey flashed to when she had taken out the entire team herself, something only Elisae could pull off that effortlessly. Bailey could hear Marie shakily breathe in. “It’s obvious that if the Zapfish is gone for enough time, Inkopolis will suffer a blackout. The Octarian Army will strike at our defenceless city when they have the chance. There’s no time to find anyone else.” Marie faltered, struggling to say one final sentence. “Who knows what could happen to Callie.”

Bailey’s mind was reeling. She had no time to calm down from her match, only to be faced with this difficult decision. Surely someone else would have been better than her, but there really was no time was there? She lightly sighed, realising once again what priorities she had given herself.

“I’ll do it.” She hastily agreed. “I’ll help you.”

“Thank you.” Bailey could hear the relief in Marie’s voice, as her natural composure quickly returned. “Let's set you up first, since you need to be prepared for when you go in. You are now Agent 4 of the New Squidbeak Splatoon. Luckily, your suit doesn't make you look like a disgruntled construction worker, unlike the rest of us.” Walking up to the Cabin, Bailey slid the headset off the pile and picked up the neon yellow lime jacket hoodie thing. It was weird and confusing to describe. She could already tell this was going to be too big for her, but Marie insisted it was fine, so she took it, as well as the headset and boots, and walked into the cabin, overhearing Marie reply to her own comment. “Morgan acts like one too...”

The new Cuttlefish Cabin was significantly smaller inside than out. A desk with a laptop covered in paper sat opposite to a small bunker bed and a smaller bedside cabinet. A wave of sympathy flooded Bailey once she realised that Marie was sleeping here. It all looked so old, apart from the pristine charger stood against the wall next to the bed. She never noticed the dusted yet similarly designed roller or shooter under the grated bed frame. All three were a midnight black, with the charger being lined with a lime green border. As much as Bailey wanted to touch it, she would have left a fingerprint on the almost glowing polish, so she kept her hands off it. The noted paper was intriguing also, but she kept to her gut and never laid a finger.

Once out of the cabin, Marie giggled lightly at Bailey, realising she was engulfed by the hoodie and boots. Bailey pulled a face of disappointment, knowing everything was too big for her.

“Why does everything have to be so big on me?” She huffed, waving her arms around, the jacket sleeves flapping with her.

“Huh.” Marie wondered. “Thinking about it, you do look like you're 14, when I can tell you're older than that. I'll get you a smaller set when I get the chance, but for now, you'll have to deal with that. It is better than the old one though, trust me.” Marie chuckled. She slid her parasol closed and walked through the rock archway, motioning for Bailey to follow. Walking away from the cabin, the true look of the Octarians showed. Being ominous yet mystical, the strange arrangement of hovering battered rocks masked by a sea of airy clouds gave off an image of beauty. The atmosphere contrasting immensely, with the barrenness chillingly leaving Bailey on edge. She never knew if she was being watched.

“So our main objective is to release the Great Zapfish and to get Callie back right?” Bailey questioned as she walked.

“Precisely. At the same time, we need to stop the brewing threat. Elisae was all over that plan when it first happened.” Marie stopped at an opening that had recently been repaired with glass. Bailey peered closer at the polluted lake and could make out something on the surface.

“We could strike their base of operations...” Bailey muttered, still entranced by the glitter in the swirling water below. “But that would probably take time, considering you’ve recruited a kid who more or less has no idea what they’re doing. I probably won’t survive.”

“You’re more observant than I thought. But the barrier will be equal trouble to the century’s worth of guards there.”

“Barrier? Barrier for what?” Bailey was no longer interested in the water.

“When the Zapfish generate enough power, it all redirects towards an electrified barrier that protects Cephalon HQ.” Marie explained. “If it’s active, no Inkling can get past.”

“If the Great Zapfish is powering it, then what’s it guarding?”

“I never said it was the Great Zapfish itself.” Marie answered. “The offspring the Great Zapfish has accumulated over its lifespan are normally held in pouches in the Great Zapfish’s mouth. These babies are wrongfully used to generate electricity, mainly the barrier.”

“And how many do I have to rescue?”

“Well there’s fourteen in the four sectors after this one, which has four.” Marie counted, not noticing Bailey’s jaw drop again. “So sixty, then the Great Zapfish.”

“So how am I going to help?” Now that she knew everything, Bailey believed there was not much point going back on this.

“The outsourced power is tracked to this canyon, but the furthest I could track it to was here at Tentakeel Outpost.” Marie evaded, only to continue. “Each mission I make you do, you’ll head into each stronghold and retrieve each Zapfish, and in four cases, eight at one go. Each time you succeeded in freeing one, or eight, it’ll weaken the barrier, and we’ll be one step closer to saving Callie and the Great Zapfish.” Looking around, Bailey couldn’t find anything alive, other than Marie and herself, of course. Marie quickly ran back to the cabin, and when she returned, she was obviously concealing something. The shooter she revealed was definitely strange and unique.

“Shoot over there.” Marie pointed over to nothing. Something must have been there, so Bailey shot. The air around it materialised into a flattened kettle with a grated top. “I don’t understand how they were able to create something invisible, but they use in defence as they live underground.” Marie explained.

Bailey was already near the kettle, staring down at the rusted blue steel. It almost looked like the grate she followed Marie into, bar the colour.

“Why is it a kettle?” She asked herself as she kicked it, creating a light dent in the side.

“Just forget about it Four. It’s not the weirdest you’re going to see.” Four. Bailey was part of another team, and again she would work alone for most of it. She sighed and brushed it off, looking in detail at the shooter Marie gave her. Small, sturdy, and made for battle, but there was something about its black barrel and yellow chamber that made Bailey think she had seen it before. But where? “This version of the Hero Shot is just a prototype. Swanne, Sheldon’s protege, helped make that.”

“Swanne? As in Capri ‘the kid I’ve known since I was six’ Swanne?”

“She’s exceptional at what she does.” Marie ignored Bailey’s comment, almost like she didn’t care. “I would have also given you the camera-embedded contacts she was working on, but it looks like I’ll only be in contact via your headset.”

“I’m going in myself then...” Bailey sighed.

“I’ll enter if you get injured to the point of vulnerability, or if you’re in trouble.” Marie replied. “I don’t really want my reputation stained even further.”

Holding onto the Hero Shot, Bailey placed a foot onto the grate, and as she looked down, she felt like she would trip over her boots at one point. She tried to shallow out her breathing, not wanting to show nerves or reluctancy.

“Ready?” Marie stood at the grate. Bailey nodded, the adrenaline kept her mouth shut. “Good luck.” Marie gave a reassuring nod as Bailey leapt and dropped into the kettle.


	5. Master the Basics

Jumping up from the grated spawn point, Bailey quickly scanned around to gather where she was.

“I can hear everything clearly.” Marie confirmed with approval. “Continue forwards the way you think you should.” Bailey swam forwards through an already inked path, landing herself on a Launchpad, confused to what it was, only for it to spiral her into and across the air. Although her head was spinning, she tried to aim for the spawn-point she was heading towards.

“What the hell was that?!” Realising that an Octarian had heard Bailey’s exclamation, she shot a path to a nearby wall to take cover. It looked like it wasn’t going to move. “You know, the spinny-jump thing on the floor?” Peeking over the wall, she tossed out a Splat Bomb and watched it splat the Octarian.

“Oh, the Launchpad?” Marie asked. “They’ll help you travel across spawn points, almost like superjumping. You’ll see them all over the place in Octo Canyon. Just hurry up and continue. Time is not on our hands here.” Bailey rolled her eyes and swam forward, pondering at what could lie behind a wall of crates. Throwing a bomb over the top, she could hear ink shots and immediately knew what to expect. What she didn’t expect though, was the Octarians were perched on a triangle of crates. Effortlessly taking down each one, she swam into another Launchpad and jumped.

Marie was quick to hear Bailey’s curiosity from an elasticised explosion.

“You probably just hit a Balloon Fish, judging by that noise.”

“Is that a vault?” Bailey asked, letting out a metallic bang as she quickly whacked it with her Hero Shot.

“You’ll need a key to open that. If there’s any crates around, the key’s probably in one.” Slipping under one of the side grates, Bailey took down each box one by one, only for Marie to jolt from Bailey screaming with it being followed by a barrage of shots. “Are you okay?!”

“So...” Bailey started, a little shaken. “It looks like Octarians like hiding in crates...” She took a deep breath. “But I got the key. And there’s yet another Launchpad.”

“I think I can see the Zapfish!” Bailey peered into the distance, only just noticing the Octarians circling the vault below her once she took a step forward onto the grate. She dropped a bomb, splatting three of the four there; Bailey dropping down to shoot the last one. The vault unlocked a can with Tenta Missiles inside, and Bailey smartly used them to take out as many of the Octarians below her as she could. She sighed as she jumped down the next drop, grabbed the closest key she could get, and ran to the furthest vault, knowing the Launchpad would be there.

Jumping onto the final platform, suspended in the sky, the Zapfish squirmed around its glass prison; Bailey finally understanding what Marie meant by the Zapfishes being used for power. She walked towards it, jumping back from the static electricity. There was a moment of awkward silence before Maire finally realised why.

“Just shoot it. Or throw a bomb at it. Your call.” Bailey slapped her face as she dropped a bomb at her feet, the bomb exploding the glass. Unclipping the Zapfish’s whiskers, Bailey hesitated to jump back as she watched the Zapfish fly off, presumably to a safe place. “Great job Four. This plan might actually work. Now, onto the next one. Come back to Tentakeel Outpost.”

Bailey was a little more reckless with the next one, almost instantly rushing forwards out of instinct. What stopped her, however, was a little walking missile, dawdling in circles. It quickly noticed her, and her first thought was to shoot at it. She realised she would have to shoot at anything that was that sickening shade of purple. She clambered up wall after wall, taking out an Octotrooper in the process. Coming to a Balloon Fish surrounded by Octopods, who were apparently floating, Bailey quickly stopped to question what she should do; something she had never done before. Throwing a bomb would be a good idea.

“You’re awfully quiet Four. You alright?” Marie could hear all the ambient sound, including all the Octarians Bailey was splatting.

“Yeah I’m fine.” Bailey replied contently, bubbles popping from her swimming in ink. After swimming up another wall for a time Bailey couldn’t count, she swam through a few more Octotroopers, only to be faced with a problem. All Marie could hear was Bailey shooting ink, and the squeaking of something cleaning it up.

“Damn it I think we have a problem.” Bailey muttered. “This Roomba thing is stopping me from getting up this wall! It removes all the ink!”

“Oh, the Squee-G?” Marie replied. “They suck up ink, but they’re pretty harmless. If there’s enough ink on the wall, you should be able to distract it as you swim up the wall behind its line of sight.”

Clambering over the wall, Bailey faced, nothing? Two crates sat between her and a wide, sponge-ridden area. Breaking both crates, she picked up the Splashdown but left the armour, becoming a little cocky on her behalf. Watching Octotroopers materialise in the sky, she quickly hid behind one of the sponges before jumping towards them at full force and Splashdowned with glee, only leaving her two to take out alone. Another Launchpad, taken with ease.

Bailey jumped up a wooden plank, her finger already pressed hard on the trigger. She didn’t even know where she was aiming when she and Marie heard canonical bursting, elastic rubbing against the air. She swam along the swollen sponges towards another Octarian, a new one to her.

“This one throws bombs!” Bailey screamed, ducking behind a Sponge.

“Gross, an Octobomber.” Marie revelled in disgust. “Hope there’s a-” A Balloon Fish went off, stopping Marie in her tracks. “Balloon Fish.” She sighed, listening to Bailey splat the Octobomber. Another line of them popped, and Bailey muttered something under her breath, presumably about having to climb up so many walls. She didn’t even get to the top before she threw out a Splat Bomb at the Zapfish, breaking it free from the glass in seconds.

“You think you’re willing to do another one Four?” Marie asked as Bailey watched the Zapfish fly off.

“I’m a little tired, but I’ll go for as long as I can.” Bailey swiftly replied. “Meet you back at the Cabin.”

With no imminent threat in front of her, Bailey burst out of the spawn point, but quickly slowed down at the sight of a new mechanic.

“Do you step on this or something?” Bailey held her breath.

“Oh is that a dash track? Step on it. Just trust me.” Marie heard the whiz of the track as Bailey’s squid spun forwards. “Gets your ink pumpin’, right?”

“Eh, I guess.” Bailey shrugged, wasting no time as she hopped over a low block of stairs. “But that does not look like an ink rail. Looks like fun though.” She shot at the ride rail and jumped on, letting it take her forwards. Jumping off the end, she felt as if she were back at practice. “Now that’s the adren- the adrenin- That got my ink pumpin’.”

“That’s the adrenaline rush you wanted?”

“Marie shut up.” Bailey hissed behind Marie’s giggles, already having jumped over gaps towards another ride rail and dash track. She picked up some armour in an attempt to avoid some ink pistons, and instantly felt comfort from the extra protective layer.

Dash track after dash track - even if it took her a little time to figure out where to jump - Bailey could finally see the Zapfish in sight, although through a few more dash tracks and ink pistons.

“Holy carp!” Bailey was ecstatic after every dash track, pushing through the closed ink pistons and executing another flawless jump at the end of the ride rail with a bomb.

“Well that was quick.” Marie grinned at Bailey as she jumped out of the grate, wiping some flecks of sweat off her face. “At this rate we’ll be flying towards Cephalon HQ in no time.”

“Yeah, I’ve been known to finish things quickly.” Bailey remarked as she sat outside the Cabin. “That’s why Orca Moon gets by so easily.” She stared at Marie’s lost expression. “My team? You know, the reason why I came to Inkopolis Square? I’m gonna have to think of some sort of excuse to stop Orca Moon thinking that I’ve been squidnapped or something.”

“Looks like we’re going to have to weave our way around the tournament then.” Marie pondered, letting her parasol twirl in her hands. “If your team do ask, say it’s personal matters, like family problems.”

“Already know that’s not gonna work. Roman and ‘Chai adopted Ava and me, so they are technically family.” Bailey let out a morose sigh, pressing her head into her slightly red hands. “What if I get found out? What if I get caught lying? They’ll know I’m faking it! They just know me too well.” Marie stayed quiet, a now uneasy silence swallowing the environment around them.

Bailey stood up, hastily grabbing her Hero Shot. Sure her hands already hurt, but it was a price she had to pay. It was either that or Inkopolis losing power. No brainer, right? “Isn’t there still one more here?” Marie nodded, pointing with her parasol back through the arch towards the centre. A jet black kettle say on a pink and purple pillow. Bailey was already rushing towards it, just wanting to get this over with. The quicker she finished it would give a lower chance of Orca Moon finding out.

“Just know that with this one, they were originally holding a Great Octoweapon, but they moved it to Octo Valley and Three already dealt with it.” Bailey shrugged it off, but her mind doubletook it. She didn’t believe it. “Just go in to get the Zapfish, and I’ll let you go for now.” Bailey sunk into the kettle, already anticipating something was going to be there. But what?


	6. A Toast to the Villian

Spawning in an arena, Bailey swallowed the vast emptiness. She jumped along the Launchpad, her movements echoed beyond time. She couldn’t speak, this carefree kid was too scared to. She took a couple steps forward towards the suspended Zapfish, her amber lined boots pounding against the metal. An enlarged tentacle slowly rose up from the pool of ink, its suction cups curled up against the tip. It wiggled slightly before jolting Bailey as it smashed apart the bulb, grabbing the helpless Zapfish and pulling it into the ink. The puddle sizzled with electricity before exploding in a great beam of light; Bailey hastily covered her face from the harsh rays.

“Oh, I was so right to not believe you.” She yelled through the ominous music that echoed around her. Something raised up from behind the light, and Bailey could already tell it was one of the Octoweapons.

“What do yo-” Marie was cut short by the whirring cry of the Octo Oven, a being that confused Bailey to no end. “What is even happening?”

“IT’S MOVING!” Bailey screamed, bracing herself by stepping back, several times. Her instincts had already kicked in, and she sprayed the floor as quickly as she can. The Octo Oven whirred into motion towards Bailey and she tilted to the side, watching a loaf of bread eject out the side next to her. “So this is some sort of Oven.” She noticed as it popped back it. The red-glinted camera that was following her lead the front of it to her. “The ends of the loaves look deadly.”

“That’s why I never eat the end slices.” Marie remarked, disgusted by the groans and huffs of the Octo Oven. Bailey was letting out heavy yet quiet breaths as she ran around the Octo Oven; she thought to ask Elisae for more stamina training because her sides were already heaving. Another loaf sprung out and back in, a small ‘eep’ laving Bailey as she narrowly dodged it. It tried hitting her again, but it almost wound itself up and all the loaves burst out. Bailey squinted her eyes at the fact that they were all stuck, held out with confused faces. With a smirk, she used the loaves to climb up the machine, throwing a bomb down at the tentacle squirming around the top even before she got to it. She stood next to it, realising that it would need several hits for her to splat it. So she threw another Splat Bomb, coupled with a short spray of shots. It exploded in a burst of green ink, and Bailey, satisfied, superjumped back to where she started.

“Piece of cake.” She grinned; her hopes quickly dashed as the tentacle came back, breaking off some of the inkable walls and shooting something out of its top.

“You take that back?”

“Oh shut it Marie.” Bailey huffed back. “Huh, those ink pillars look like churros.”

“Ugh, these food jokes are making me hungry.” Marie whined. “But donut stop! You knead to keep going.”

“Wait did you ju-” A glass shatter jolted Marie to the verge of tears.

“Four are you okay?!” Bailey, realising she wasn’t dead, struggled to run away. She hid behind the Octo Oven, pain following her every breath.

“I’m... I’m fine.” She winced, patting down her body to notice that she was wearing less than she thought. “Where the hell has my armour gone?!” The fabric materialised around her and after a click she was now wearing her armour. “Huh. Does that always happen when I get hit?” She ran back around with determination, watching each loaf of bread pop out to climb up it again.

As anxiety coexisted with the adrenaline in her veins, she watched the Octo Oven change for the second time. Nothing of the exterior altered, but the loaves had scraps of metal slapped onto them, almost like armour. It roared once again, grossing out Marie - Bailey never knew why, yet never asked, but as the kid was ready to face the machine for hopefully the last time, it pulled out a large wall across its side; the nozzles attached to it sprayed ink faster than a Splash Wall. Bailey, who was still a kid, just screamed and ran once she saw it was coming towards her.

“Bailey calm down!” Marie spat, huffing from the young girl’s frantic reaction. She swam and hopped through her puddles of ink in an attempt to get away from the glazing machine. It stopped short of the full round, and Bailey then stood there, a little embarrassed. She followed the same pattern as before, waiting for the loaves to overload so she could climb up them. She popped the tentacle again, and as she jumped back, she noticed something was wrong with the Octo Oven. One by one, the loaves popped out burnt; each spark of the oven itself grew with green marks before it exploded in ink. Bailey wiped her face clean with her hoodie, a bit too thoroughly, but she unclipped the Zapfish and hurried back to Tentakeel Outpost.

“Good work Agent 4.” Marie smiled as Bailey came back, the rest of her body covered in now yellow ink. “But I gotta hand it to the Octarians, though. I didn’t expect them to have fully operational octobosses at their disposal.”

“That’s what that thing was?!” Bailey gasped, shaking off the ink like a dog in wet weather.

“I mean, we would call in the big guns, but he’s unavailable right now, so we’ve got the next best thing.” Bailey tilted her head, making Marie think she was an animal rather than a kid. Another kid slid out of the Cabin, and it made Bailey’s jaw drop almost as fast as when she met Marie for the first time. A kid older than her - yet the same height as her, if not, a bit taller - stood with the same jacket, unzipped, over a White King Tank, coupled with her signature Pilot Goggles and Moto Boots.

“Hey Fou- ‘Lee?!”

“Capri!” Bailey squealed out, almost lunging at Capri with full intention of squeezing her in a hug.

“Chill it Four.” Marie cooly spoke. “So, there’s no need to introduce her. That'll save time.”

“Why do you work here?” Bailey frantically asked, almost shaking Capri. “And how long have you known Marie for?!”

“You know, a while.” Capri chuckled evasively. Bailey narrowed her eyes in suspicion; knowing what she was like, Bailey knew that she wasn’t subtle or vague. “But as for why I’m here. Sheldon isn’t, no brainer. So I’m going to help you. Indirectly, like Marie. Sheldon said I need some info for the things I’m doing in order to actually do it, so that’s where you come in.”

“Oh you’d better help me cover it up.” Bailey muttered almost evilly, wringing her hands, but she quickly stopped from a sharp jolt of pain. Her hands hurt, a lot, but she couldn’t make out why.

“Hey, you okay?” Capri asked inquiringly.

“Maybe she got hurt during her fight with the Octo Oven...” Marie pondered, asking Bailey to hold out her hands. It didn’t look like anything out of the ordinary. “It just looks like you were gripping your Hero Shot too hard, it should be fine.” What she said before; Bailey didn’t believe it then, and she didn’t believe it now, even if she didn’t distrust her. Maybe her hands were stained with Octarian ink or something.

“Oh yeah you weren’t able to see what she was doing.” Capri rested her head on her hands, instantly perking up to a thought. “Wait I have it on me!” Marie followed Bailey’s head tilt.

“The CECs?” Marie asked.

“The contacts were a lost cause.” Capri admitted, rummaging through the canvas bag. “But, I do have something else.” She pulled out a small case in which she handed to Bailey; the young girl, and Marie, were both confused. Bailey opened the case to find a microchip camera attached to a string of some sorts. “This is still a camera, but I realised that if the contacts were within your eyes, we wouldn’t be able to see all the time. If it was on your head, however, we would be able more.” Almost like a timed coincidence, as Bailey attached the camera onto her head, there was an electrical fizz somewhere across the side of Tentakeel Outpost. They followed the sound to the plugs that were making that sound, only to see that the electric fence surrounding a Launchpad almost exploded, making Bailey wonder what laid ahead.

“That would be to Suction-Cup Lookout.” Marie mentioned, holding her parasol out as a barricade to stop Bailey from taking another step. “You’ve done enough today. You deserve to go back to your team, and I could say the same for Capri. We don’t want them to become more worried.” Bailey and Capri look at each other suspiciously before Bailey shrugged it off and turned on her heel towards the manhole. She quickly looked back and smiled.

It was now night in Inkopolis, and Bailey wondered how Octo Canyon - Tentakeel Outpost specifically, due to being the only seen sector - never dimmed. She could see the tournament apartments from where she was, she yawned, knowing her bed was so close, even if separated by those dreaded stairs. She lowly growled, but ended up yawning again, and just decided to trudge back, grumbling over the broken elevator. Orca Moon were dead asleep; Bailey chuckled from the light rumble of Malachai’s snoring through the door. Once her head hit the pillow, she was desperate and quick to see black.


	7. Tickets for a Weapon

A loud bang helped Bailey fall out of her bed, her body creating a tangle with the bedsheets. It was on her door, and she could already tell that it was someone from Orca Moon.

“Hey ‘Lee! You’ve been out for a while, and we’ve had enough of ‘Chai. Get up!” Bailey got up and noticed that the lilac and blue sheets created a robe contrasting her gold tentacles.

“Gimme a sec!” She called back, ripping the sheets away. It was roughly noon, and she had slept through Roman and Astra being annoyed at Malachai again. While grabbing her normal Khaki 16-bit FishFry, she slowly glanced over to her hands. Now that the pain had died down with the adrenaline of the Octo Oven, the rose-petalled rash was a lot more noticable, far more pink than her freckled yellow-toned skin. She couldn’t have it, otherwise they would find out. She quickly whipped around her room to find a grey fingerless glove, a vibrant pink and blue patterning the palm. She grabbed the other one, and the White V-Neck Tee that came with it, and hastily put them on. It would have to do. Picking up her phone, she noticed that Roman was fairly patient as she opened the door.

“You know ‘Chai snored, as always.” Roman scoffed, at first glance not noticing Bailey’s new attire, the Tee and ink colour specifically. Bailey never noticed that Roman didn’t sport the normal indigo either. “But he and Astra are back at the Shoal.”

“They really want those tickets, huh?” Bailey remarked, following Roman out the building.

The Shoal gave a retro vibe, something that this country girl hadn’t seen before. It was mainly themed green and pink - under the blue lighting, that is - and Bailey’s mind automatically snapped to the thought of Callie and Marie. She shuddered, remembering that yesterday was as real as it could have been. Astra was attempting to beat a younger kid at Squid Beatz 2, although he was failing miserably. Bailey chuckled, forgetting the thought and remembering that she was there for Orca Moon, not just Marie’s task; saving Inkopolis. Malachai was at one of the dancing machines, waiting for someone to let him have a go. Through all the strobe lights and deafening noises, the team could someone hear scream something.

“Oh my cod it’s Mariana Snow!”

Multiple heads jolted towards the sound, and a sudden crowd rushed towards the reigning champions.

“You think we’ll be that famous one day?” Astra asked, resting against the wall as he watched the four fairly oldish kids being swarmed like moths to a light. Bailey noticed their personalities blend into their reactions: Phieo’s was warm and welcoming; Aleyanna’s was cold and silent; Skyler’s was humble; Capri’s was explosively friendly. This last girl, the shortest with the shortest tentacles, peaked Bailey’s attention.

“At this rate, we’ll be famous if we beat them.” Roman muttered, being drowned out by every noise there.

“Bailey!!” Orca Moon jolted at the sight of Bailey being attacked by something also yellow, and the boys chuckled as Capri hugged the breath out of Bailey. She missed this; the times before Camilla disappeared and the girl’s friendship slowly faded away. They got up, both a little shaken. “Haven’t you seen in a while.”

“You’ve been with Mariana Snow. Team dynamics are more important than other friends.” Malachai pointed out, only for Astra and Roman to look at him in disgust. Capri giggled it off.

“But we’ll be in more contact now, right?” Bailey asked. “Due to that ‘side project’?” Capri looked confused at first, but since she knew no one could know, Bailey was trying her hardest to find an excuse.

“That’s where you were? With Capri?” Astra felt confused to how the two golden white-clothed girls met just a moment ago, if they had met yesterday.

“Uh, yeah.” Bailey shrugged. “She wanted me to help with a new weapon she’s making, and I kind of got hurt in the process. My hands specifically. I decided to wear gloves to stop them from getting hurt any further.” She mentioned towards her White V-Neck Tee and her gloves, feeling a strange uneasiness knowing that she wasn’t wearing long sleeves.

“You should have told us.” Malachai’s response almost sounded pained. “We were kind of worried about you since we didn’t know where you were.” Bailey put her hand up to interject, but Capri was swift to grab it and drag her out the Shoal.

“What was that for?” Bailey huffed, breaking the grip.

“I wanted to talk about yesterday.” Capri muttered. “Sheldon had told me there was an Agent Four, but I never knew it was you!”

“Yeah, Four. Part of another team, yet I have to work alone either way. I’m ecstatic.” Bailey’s tone was heavy with sarcasm. “You’re gonna have to help me continue this excuse because you’re in on this too. I’m going to be missing more and more due to Octo Canyon, which is perfectly-” She emphasised the word ‘perfectly’. “in time with the more matches I’ll be in if we continue winning.”

“I might have to add something. You can’t be walking around destroying Octarians with just your ‘Shot. You won’t be suited to deal with the new areas.” Capri muttered. Bailey was a Splattershot main, and only a Splattershot main. She would dapple around other Shooters, as well as some Dualies, only because of her battle-style. She gave Capri a dead-pan expression.

“I know, this is my first time in Iiyama, and being tasked with what I’ve taken on, that’s why I’m stressing so much.” Bailey sighed, slamming her body against the concrete wall and sliding down it, head in hands. She looked up to see Capri reaching out her hand.

“I’ll help you in anyway I can.” Bailey firmly gripped her hand as she stood up. “That is if you use the weapons I give you.”

“Fine.” Bailey whined, a smile on her face.


	8. Three Weapons, Three Fights

“You there Four?” Bailey heard Marie through her headset.

“Yeah I’m fine.” She quickly adjusted the camera, sighing heavily. “It’s just...” She gripped her weapon tighter; Marie and Capri could hear the hostility in her voice. “Capri? Why would you decide to give me a roller?”

“I told you, some of these missions are going to be better with specific weapons. Just trust me on it.”

“I’m happy Sheldon’s drones still work.” Marie muttered contently, watching Bailey fiddle around with the roller; she played off a laugh for a cough once she realised she was in that position when Callie decided to swap weapons that one time. Bailey whined with every fling, quick to complain that she was weak, or that it was too heavy. She was quick to learn, throwing out a line of ink all the way to the Launchpad with one vertical flick. “Let’s get moving.”

“Damn it. I overshot the Zapfish.” Bailey almost spat, flinging her Roller before she dropped to the ground. “Even if I didn’t, it wouldn't have been that easy...”

“Wait why are there Rolonium bundles there?” Capri asked as if she knew where they were supposed to be. “Try and whack one at that Octarian riding that Spreader.” Bailey didn’t take a second to question it, and instead just launched one of the bundles at the Octotrooper, wincing from the weight of the Hero Roller. She opened her eyes to an explosion of purple ink, and slowly followed the Spreader cover what had happened, her eyes showing pure confusion. She tried to shrug it off, and continued forwards, repeating the method for two more Octotroopers on Spreaders.

“There’s a lot of Octopods.” Marie observed. Bailey grinned, using what was left of her strength to shoot a bundle at them. “Now there isn’t. Who knew you could splat five Octopods with one Rolonium bundle?”

“You’re doing great ‘Lee!” Capri cheered out. “Keep it up!”

“Great another one of these twats.” Bailey spat. She was quick to swim up to the Rolonium bundles, smashing one towards the Octobomber. “But what the hell is that!” She screamed out, instinctively throwing out whatever she could.

“Late head’s up, but Octohurlers throw Rolonium at you.” Bailey couldn’t pick up who said it as she launched a bundle back at the Octohurler. “There’s a Launchpad behind that lot. Just need to get past them.” Bailey was struggling to decipher who was talking because of the blood and ink rushing to her ears, but she breezed towards the Launchpad.

“Look! The Zapfish!” Marie called out, which made Bailey falter at the hands of an Octopod trap.

“Thanks for that.” Bailey huffed, pushing through the Octotroopers in front of her, including the Octobomber and Octohurler right at the end. She jumped up onto the platform and smashed open the bulb with the Roller, unclipping the Zapfish.

“Hey the data for the Roller’s coming through!” Capri gasped gleefully as Bailey spawned, grabbing the case flown in, and opening it to see a pair of Dualies with the same colour scheme as the other weapons she saw. She smiled slightly, knowing she could actually use these. She ran forwards, jumping onto the ride rail and shooting the balloons in front of her. She climbed up with more ride rails, continuing to shoot, but this time at the Octotroopers.

“You gotta be careful not to fall off when jumping on winding rails like this.” Marie warned, as all she and Capri could see was the abyss below Bailey. “OK, now you’re just showing off.” Bailey snickered as she dropped onto the ground, only to jump onto another ride rail.

“That really does look like fun.” Capri pointed out. Marie sighed.

“Sometimes I wish I was the one risking my life out there.”

“Then why did you recruit me?” Capri was a little taken aback by Bailey’s harsh tone. She continued before Marie could respond. “Whatever. The Zapfish must be close.”

“Remember you can dodge roll! Don’t end up being those inexperienced kids who don’t dodge roll!” Bailey rolled her eyes at Capri with irritation and playfulness, following the ride rail up to the Zapfish’s platform.

“You’re giving her the Charger?” Marie asked Capri as Bailey opened the case. Invisible to Bailey, Capri nodded.

“It’s the best weapon for tackling those Grapplinks.” Bailey instantly forgot the Charger had to charge its shots, and ended up disappointing Marie slightly. “I wonder if those Octozepplins have a weak point...” Bailey aimed at the Grapplinks, avoiding the Octozepplins completely. “Or, you know, you can just do that.”

“Think you can hit that propeller lift?” Marie asked, watching Bailey painfully aim at the little blue fan controlling the platform. She jumped on and rode it until the next Grapplink and Launchpad were in sight; Bailey continued to splat any Octarian in the process. Marie and Capri would give remarks every so often, but Bailey almost zoned out as she moved forwards.

“I don’t like the sound of that...” Marie noticed a row of Octomissiles fly over Bailey’s head, but she was too busy trying to find the next Grapplink.

“I’m guessing you don’t like the look of that either.” Capri almost spurted out at Bailey came face to face with the next row.

“But...” Bailey droned out. “I can do this.” She jumped onto a ride rail that spun all the way around the back to a place littered with crates. Out of curiosity, and almost boredom, she swiftly proceeded to break each one, struggling to grab what was in the last one.

“Oh shoot that’s a Sunken Scroll! Bailey! Keep that on you and bring it back!” Marie basically yelled out, making Bailey wince as she jumped on the Launchpad back.

“Damn it another vault.” Bailey hissed. “Where the hell is the key?”

“It’s over there! The crates on the other side!” Bailey could imagine Capri jumping up and down like a baby squid. Bailey glanced over at the double-stacked boxes, then followed the line of sight of the Octomissiles. She dashed over, grabbing the case of armour in the process. She only assumed the Octomissiles were 1-hit-KOs, so she was lucky she had a layer of reassurance. She swiftly pocketed the key, and turned to snipe half of the row as they went past. Marie gave an unexplainable look - she saw potential in the kid who had only just picked up this weapon. Bailey superjumped onto the next section, now immune to the nausea it originally gave her.

“Remember to look up!” Capri hinted, forcing Bailey to shoot at the fan above her. She yawned, waiting for the Octozepplin to fly past, before dropping off the platform. She shot at the next fan to get to the next Grapplink.

“Final checkpoint. Zapfish sighted.” Marie scouted out. “It’s so close.”

“Not close enough.” Bailey scoffed.

“But how are you supposed to get up there?” Capri asked, a little timidly. “More importantly, how are you supposed to shoot both fans?” Bailey shot the first platform, jumping down as it scrolled past. Watching the fan twirl the platform back into place, Bailey used the three brain cells she had to think of a plan. She had enough ink for one bomb - she decided the Autobomb because it would stay in place - and maybe two shots maximum. Throwing down the Autobomb as close to the fan as she could, she aimed at the other fan, only marginally hitting it. Accepting that she would get hit by the Octozepplin, she tried her best to ignore her armour practically shattering through her view as she aimed for the Grapplink up to the Zapfish’s platform. Marie could hear the muffled static of a swear as Bailey panicked to aim again, successfully zipping up to solid ground. Throwing a Splat Bomb directly at the shield, she tried to play it smart and shoot at the clips. Surprisingly it worked, and the Zapfish pried itself out of the other clip before flying off.

It was a little quiet once Bailey jumped out of the kettle. Marie was standing not that far away, but she was content, and not unnerved like the prior kettles with Capri.

“Uh...” Bailey looked a little dumbfounded. “Where’s C-”

“Were the headphones not working?” Marie asked; to Bailey, she was avoiding the question. “Capri was called off by her team.”

“Is her match now?! Damn it! I wanted to watch it!” Bailey prepared to throw her Hero Charger, but hesitated before simply dropping her arms in a fit of anger, the barrel grazing the floor.

“It’s not now. You’ve still got a couple hours. I’d say finish the next one, and I’ll let you take a break and watch Capri’s match.” Marie sighed. “But I’ll need you back instantly.”

The sky was slowly fading. It was about late-afternoon now; after the hassle at the Shoal, Marie called them in late-noon. Bailey never realised how much time flew while she was completing missions and finding Zapfishes. Marie slyly grinned, holding something behind her back like when she had first given Bailey the Hero Shot. Bailey, who had pulled out her phone, caught sight of this and tilted her head quizzingly. “Capri did give me the weapon you have to use...” She whipped out the Hero Shot again, and she could see the faintest reaction out of Bailey; her eyes widened ever so slightly and her hand curled up. Marie only assumed she was trying to fist-pump, but something else was bothering her. She listened to the flurry of phone buzzing again as the rest of Orca Moon panicked not knowing where she was. She turned off her phone. The buzzing stopped. The air was now filled with an uneasy silence as she took the Hero Shot of Marie again. Bailey turned away, but tilted her head back. Marie could hear the snarl in her voice.

“If anything happens to my team, my family, while I’m here, we both know I’m calling you out.”

Bailey followed the path around the side of some Octarians as she shot at them, insisting it was easier than finding a way through after she dropped down. As she got to the grates, something broke through the boxes, leaving Marie flabbergasted.

“That the biggest Squee-G I’ve ever seen!” Bailey could hear some papers rustling, and only assumed that either Capri or Sheldon or someone gave her some fact files of the different things they were to expect in Octo Canyon. “That sucker can apparently clean anything!”

“Including me?”

“Including you.”

“Great.” Bailey huffed, pulling off a pose as she jumped off the ride rail. She ambushed an Octarian to find another Industrial Squee-G on a long, narrow path. “Dead end.”

“Any way around this?” Marie asked, obviously knowing the solution, but she wanted to see if Bailey could think for herself.

“Well...not around...” The Squee-G noticed the purple ink on the ground and whired towards it. Bailey dug her foot into the ground, then dashed over the ledge onto the top of the Squee-G, barely holding onto the sheer plastic and her Hero Shot before either of them dropped onto the floor.

“Looks like it doesn’t notice you climbing on its back.” Marie remarked as Bailey led it forwards. “There’s something about those giant Squee-Gs that’s kinda totally adorable.” Bailey pulled a face of confusion as she looked back. Marie finding these robot fish cute? Whatever.

Swimming up a geyser, they both noticed an arrangement of narrow slopes and platforms.

“They trying to make it for someone who specialises in walking across tightropes or something?”

“Don’t go falling to your doom, now.” Bailey chuckled a little nervously at Marie’s comment. “I’m pretty invested in you at this point.” Bailey, ignoring Marie’s rather rash statement, pushed along the platforms, past all the Octarians. She took out a platformed Sprinkler, not noticing the Squee-G roaming around. “Next Launchpad!”

This area was fairly vast, but Bailey instantly knew to drag the Industrial Squee-G to her. She already had a layer of armour, so why not another? She tried to time it better than before, but failed just as badly. Bailey squealed out as she almost lost her grip again, but still attempted to lead the Squee-G to the other side. After taking out the Sprinkler, and some of the other Octarians, she turned around to see an Octobomber throw a Splat Bomb right onto the Squee-G. Bailey screamed and jumped off. She took out the Octobomber, and another Octotrooper, with ease, but panicked by the Squee-G and scrambled to swim up a wall. Taking a couple breaths, she jumped back onto the Squee-G and rode it to the next Launchpad.

“Locked door?” Bailey tried to ask in between splatting some Octarian upon landing.

“Locked door.” Marie confirmed. Bailey clambered up a tower of blocks, as well as dodging a Squee-G, to grab the key. “All right, let’s get that door open.” Marie watched Bailey wind her way down a ride rail back to where she was.

“Yo is it me or does that look like those giant Squee-Gs?” She threw out a Curling Bomb to have a path to get away. She snuck up to it, letting the key do its thing, and swam away, letting the Squee-G chase tail. She swam around it and threw another Curling Bomb to follow. She hoped this was the final Launchpad.

“There’s the Zapfish.” Marie pointed out as Bailey took down an Octarian. She grabbed the key from one of the boxes and opened the door, quickly hopping onto the Squee-G. She followed it around, jumped up the wall, throwing a Splat Bomb at the Zapfish.

Bailey wiped a fleck of ink and sweat off her head as she put her Hero Shot down.

“I wonder how many calories I can take in before I burn them in here...” Bailey joked.

“You can leave now.” Marie smiled. “You deserve it Four.” Bailey winced at the nickname, running to the cabin to get changed. She still had her Hero Hoodie on when she came out, and Marie never noticed under the gold blur that rushed towards the grate. Bailey did feel sorry for Marie, since she was the only one she could talk to. However, she was desperate to see Capri battle with the rest of Mariana Snow, hoping that she could battle with them before either team loses. Bailey had to keep this balance.


	9. Snowfall

Bailey had appeared out of the grate at a perfect time. It was fairly empty, just a couple kids preparing for the Mariana Snow match. All she had to do was get around without Orca Moon knowing she was out. She was still wearing her Hero Hoodie, although over her White V-Neck Tee, but she could stuff it into her bag if needs be. She thought to catch up with Capri before they go in, but she doubted there would be a chance. The Square was starting to fill up almost instantly, and Bailey’s plan changed to ‘blend in the crowd’. Kids had already started screaming both Mariana Snow and Squid Warriors, and Bailey only waited until both teams were there to start screaming with the crowd. The Squid Warriors appeared, causing about a third of the current crowd to call out. She knew of them, but didn't know a lot about them; they were famous where they came from, but not as famous as Mariana Snow. The rest of the crowd burst out as Mariana Snow appeared, and Bailey couldn't help but cheer too. This powerful of a match in the Qualifiers was going to have everyone talking about it for a long time. The two teams took a last glimpse of the crowd, and everyone could see the determination in their eyes.

“Welcome to the 8th match of the Iiyama Qualifiers, and it looks like we have a fan favourite here.”

“Reigning champions Marina Snow are up against Wrymouth Way’s very own Squid Warriors!”

“Looks like Judd’s ready, so let the match commence in 3...2...1...Go!” Each team threw themselves off the platforms, and Bailey watched with an obvious shine in her eyes. There was already an instant spread of magenta snow and the sky blue of warriors. One half of Camp Triggerfish was completely covered in blue, while the other was only partially magenta. She could see Mariana Snow already had a set plan specific to Camp Triggerfish, since it didn’t abide by their normal rules. Everyone started cheering at Phieo as lines of magenta interrupted the blue sea, but the length and width of the streak was actually from Aleyanna, who was hidden from view on the Squid Warriors side, and apparently from the cameras too. Phieo did drop down onto that side though, and instantly entered a one-on-one with Otto, who had dropped back to try and clean up what Mariana Snow were so desperate to ruin. Capri and Skyler held their ground as Ravi pushed with Rizzo over onto their side. Aleyanna noticed Ollie scope in on Phieo in an attempt to catch her off guard, but Aleyanna scoped in on her before she got the chance. The crowd roared.

Everywhere was a mix, and it was a race against time now. Phieo lashed out at Otto, who had already found Aleyanna. She dropped an Ink Mine as she jumped off the wall, and Ollie was oblivious and quick to get hit, resulting in her getting splatted. Aleyanna moved over to Capri’s position and scouted out, watching Skyler outrange Ravi in height, in an attempt to stop him forcing Phieo into a corner. Bailey could feel ink rushing in her ears as the team leaders were screaming to their teams with reversing tactics to go against each other. The gates wired as they opened, immediately being covered in ink as Ollie and Aleyanna clambered up from their original positions. Capri, who had failed to pull her normal tactic, attempted to lure Ollie off her platform as Phieo ran away from the rest of them, both leading towards Aleyanna. Skyler had already jumped back to spawn to cover what they purposefully missed so he could gain his special. They could hear the sirens preparing to call the end, which made Phieo falter, wondering if they left it too late to do this. The Squid Warriors took out Mariana Snow, but Ravi was the only one to realise Skyler had not been caught. He used his special as he jumped down, splatting the whole team seconds before the sirens blew.

Many were hoping Mariana Snow would win, and they did, barely. 44.5% to 38.1%.

The crowd had already dispersed by the time the two teams left Deca Tower. Bailey was still standing there, waiting to congratulate them.

“Great match as always!” Bailey called out in glee. Phieo could see the sparkle in Bailey’s eyes and smiled sincerely. “Be prepared for when we beat you!”

“I’m guessing you finished just in time, then.” Capri remarked, hinting at Bailey’s Hero Hoodie. Bailey looked back in shock, thinking Mariana Snow could overhear, but Capri calmed her down. “Chill, ’Lee, they already know. Marie didn’t like it when they found out, but honestly, Mariana Snow can’t care less.”

“If you had hours to spare then why did you leave us?” Knowing that they were talking about something about the New Squidbeak Splatoon, Phieo, Skyler and Aleyanna left Capri to thank the Ravi and his team for a good match.

“Good question.” Capri commented, ushering Bailey towards Ammo Knights.

Bailey only got a glimpse of the exterior displays before being thrown into Capri’s workshop. She rustled around to find something, and perked up with something in her hands in glee.

“What the what?” Bailey stood there, completely confused. Capri passed whatever she was holding onto Bailey, which only confused her even more. It seemed like a tablet of some kind.

“Press the button up the top.” Capri instructed, Bailey following. One of Sheldon’s drones turned on, and Bailey could see a camera attached to it. As Capri explained what each button did, Bailey realised what this was for.

“I thought I’d never see the day where I would be able to take that camera off my head.” Bailey chuckled. “But this is going to make life so much easier for us.”

“Exactly. Bet you regret asking why I left now.” Capri grinned. “We both know I’m a gamer at heart, so, I made these as alternate controls.” Capri slid over a trolly which had some arcade joysticks attached to another tablet screen, this one bigger. She started fiddling with both sticks, which made the drone fly all over the place.

“Better functionality and more precise control.” Bailey commented. “See, this is why I need you in my life.”

With the camera now in the air, she had a better view of the workshop. Many prototypes were strewn around the place, and noticed the shells of some weapons that she assumed were more Hero weapons. She moved away towards them, which caught Capri’s attention. “These look familiar...” She slid her hand along the casing of the black and lime-yellow weapons.

“I have attempted to upgrade the prototypes, but that just ended up a mess...” Capri admitted. “So I’ve had to update the prototypes, just with more ability and power. You should be able to use them by the time we hit the next sector.” Seeing the shells of both a Hero Shot and a Splattershot, Bailey remembered something.

“Oh that reminds me!” She exclaimed. “Is there any chance I could get some backup ’Shot coils? I’m gonna end up ruining mine again at the rate I’m going with Iiyama.”

“And you’re saying you don’t need help changing them?” Capri stared at Bailey’s wide grin, before scoffing and rummaging through a nearby storage box. “Ugh, I can’t- I’ll find them later. You’d better catch up with Orca Moon before they start worrying more than they need to. I’ll give you the coils when I find them.” Bailey ran up to Capri to squeeze her in a hug before running off. “Can’t believe she’s Agent 4. Maybe this type of luck’ll help me find Camilla.”


	10. Pick Up The Pace

Bailey woke up the next day with a lack of motivation, and in turn, confusion. She didn’t really mind, so she pulled on her gear, with the gloves again, picked up her bag, and attempted to sneak out.

“Lee where you going?” Bailey jolted to the voice of a tired Astra, who had opened the door knowing she was going to leave. “Are you always going to work with Capri?” She chuckled sheepishly, trying to step away.

“Yeah, I’m going to do that.” She muttered, adjusting the straps on her bag. “Don’t know when I’ll be back though...”

“It better be before-” Bailey never heard Astra as she slid down the stairs and out the door.

It was a fairly fresh morning, the chill biting at her arms. This greenery crispness limited the number of kids around, which brought a smile to Bailey. She hoped it wouldn’t be as cold at Octo Canyon as she ran towards the grate. Placing a foot on it, she looked up at Grizzco Industries. It was open, and Bailey snarled slightly. Due to the mess that Orca Moon caused that one time, Mr Grizz banned them from taking on another call. Maybe she could sneak in with Morgan, whenever she comes back. She sighed and dropped through the gate, unaware Capri was running to catch up.

“Oh, hello Four.” Marie rubbed her eyes as she looked up to the casual-clothed kid. She rustled the bag to make it lay flat against her and grinned in reply. Capri burst out of the grate as Bailey took a step forward, both falling to the dusted ground. “And hello to you too Capri.”

“Sorry!” She exclaimed, helping Bailey off the floor. “But I wanted to show you what I showed Lee.” Opening the briefcase, the drone she was working on lifted up as Capri whipped out the tablet.

“That’s the replacement to the camera I’m assuming.” Marie watched Capri control the drone around Tentakeel Outpost. “Well go and get changed Four. We’ll meet you at Suction-Cup Lookout.”

“Let’s gooo!” Capri screamed out and Bailey dropped onto the spawn point with her trusty Hero Shot. She shot at Octotrooper, which caused an Inkfurler to unroll.

“Those Inkfurlers unfurl when you hit them with ink.” Marie pointed out.

“Thank you Captain Obvious.”

“I saw that eye roll Lee.” Capri scouted through the drone.

“Whatever. Stay sharp though. They’ll roll back up on their own after a bit.” Bailey threw out an Autobomb to distract some Octotroopers before splatting them. Using an Inkfurler as cover, she threw another one at the Octarians below and continued along some more Inkfurlers.

“Head’s up Lee. Enemy ink will cause Inkfurlers to roll back up.” Capri watched Bailey struggle against some Sprinklers, but continued forward.

“Let’s get vertical!” Marie called out in a weird type on glee as Bailey used an Inkfurler to splat an Octarian. “Keep your head in the game.” Bailey stopped and looked up at the drone in disgust.

“Bold of you assume I’m not already.” She slid down two lengthy Inkfurlers to a Launchpad, destroying the Octarians in the way.

“Jeez you make this look easy.” Capri sighed, murmuring something under her breath.

Bailey looked up at the many Shielded Octotroopers in front of her. Ignoring everything around her, she persistently threw out Curling Bombs to try and get past them. “There were Furlers that guaranteed to splat th- Oo a cannon!” Capri followed Bailey with the drone as she tried to work the cannon.

“These are like the ones at Grizzco!” Bailey exclaimed, nimbly shooting everything in her sight. Swimming up the Inkfurler, she noticed that the glass was already broken, so she quickly unclipped the Zapfish and jumped back.

“Octolings!” Capri screamed out. Bailey scanned around, unable to find any. It looked like The Reef; its dusk giving a sense of eeriness, unlike the Splatfests at night. “Wait. There’s more than one Zapfish here.”

“Oh, there’s Mini Zapfish here?” Both Marie and Bailey asked. “Eight Mini Zapfish count for the power of one normal Zapfish.” Marie informed Capri before talking to Bailey “Those pillars of light should help you find them.”

“And look out for the Octolings!” Bailey threw an Autobomb out at the Octoling guarding the Mini Zapfish in front of her. The Octoling freaked out and tried to shoot at the Autobomb, leaving Bailey free to grab the Mini Zapfish. With luck, the Autobomb took out the Octoling, but Bailey feared the others heard. She slipped past another to grab the next Mini Zapfish.

“There’s number two.” Marie marked. Bailey swam under the bridge, slamming face-first into the giant box that appeared from inside the ink. She moaned weakly in pain as she rubbed her face, but proceeded to try and punch open the box in anger, hurting her hand against the wood in the process. She sighed in an attempt to calm down and splatted it open. A case of armour dropped with a glow. Instead of actually putting it on, she ran up to a superjump circle, anticipating the Octoling’s arrival. Bailey whacked the case across the back of the Octoling’s head, then finished her off with the Hero Shot.

“To be honest, I can’t comprehend what just happened.” Marie sighed, turning away from the screen in disappointment.

“That’s Bailey for ya!” Capri replied in glee. Bailey turned to shoot at a sponge, letting it expand before she climbed up it. She ignored the canned Special and tried to push forward towards the Mini Zapfish, but stumbled back with her hands over her mouth, as a Splat Bomb came flying across her view. She winced from the impact as it exploded against the wall.

“You could have looked out for me!” Bailey spat, grabbing her Hero Shot as she stood up. She patted down her hoodie and prepared for what was behind the corner. She was too scared to peek around, so she threw an Autobomb out, resulting in another Splat Bomb in retaliation. Silence fell. Bailey pushed the ball back down her throat. There was no time to stall. Slipping into the ink, she slowly made her way to the Mini Zapfish, looking out for the Octoling. She jumped up, throwing a Splat Bomb at her feet. The Octoling fell back, giving Bailey time to grab the Mini Zapfish. The last thing that Octoling saw was down the barrel of Bailey’s Hero Shot.

The silence was getting to Capri. Being an overactive person, she was becoming reckless. Bailey would have done this, but she was too focused on the task at hand.

“Octoling below you.” Marie pointed out as Bailey watched the drone hover around. Bailey snorted at the Octoling’s feeble attempt to throw a Splat Bomb up rather than over a ledge. She could hear Capri fumble for something and watched the drone fly all over the place. She shrugged and shot down a wall of boxes, turning to see another Octoling attempting to shoot at Bailey from below. Lost in her priorities at first, Bailey started shooting at a box once the Octoling swam out of sight. She heard her yell out something, which reminded Marie of the reason this was happening.

“That doesn’t sound good...” Bailey muttered, unknown to what the Octoling said. She turned back to the way she was originally going, only to see an Octoling standing menacingly on a spawn point. Through the shades she was wearing, Bailey could tell she was glaring at her.

“That doesn’t look good.” Capri realised what Bailey was talking about once she got the drone under control. “That one has seaweed on its head? Maybe it’s more powerful?”

“I don’t want to find out.” Bailey kept her eye on the Elite Octoling. Instead of running up the ramp towards her, Bailey clambered up the ledge and threw a Splat Bomb at the Mini Zapfish, instantly breaking it free. It caught the Elite Octoling, and two others, off guard, which brought them forward. Bailey winced, wishing that she had the Bomb Launcher on her. She tackled the one right next to her, splatting her in a visceral spray of green ink. She spun around, throwing an Auto Bomb at the one from the spawn point, running to avoid the one being thrown behind her.

Time stood still.

Not realising there was a spawn barrier, Bailey was pushed against it before being thrown to the floor. Her arms were twisted behind her, and she could feel the cold metal of the Octoshot against the back of her head. Capri and Marie watched along in shock, not wanting to make a sound in fear that the Octoling could hear through the headset. No one had noticed Bailey’s sleight-of-hand as the Octoling exploded in an instant. She casually stood up and shook her hoodie; the green - and specks of purple - ink came flying off. The last Octoling there at the scene, who was also an Elite, was visibly shaking in her boots. Bailey took a step forward, which only scared the Octoling further. She ran away, and Bailey realised she didn’t need to tackle every Octoling to get to the Mini Zapfish. She swam down the ramps, grabbing another case of armour.

“Oh! Next Zapfish ahead!” Bailey threw a Splat Bomb, destroying both a Splash Wall and a box hiding behind it.

“Huh, another Sunken Scroll.” She noticed, unzipping the top half of her hoodie to fit the scroll in. She dropped back to surprise the Octoling guarding the Mini Zapfish below her. She threw another Splat Bomb down to try and ‘kill two birds with one stone’. She missed the Octoling but ignored her as Bailey grabbed the Mini Zapfish. The Octoling saw this and ran back, but into Bailey’s Hero Shot.

“Never knew you were this brutal Bailey.” Capri chuckled nervously.

“I want to get this done with.” They both could hear the nervousness in her voice as if she was shaking. Neither wondered to ask and let her continue. She swam up the sponge and grabbed the next Mini Zapfish. “And that’s six.” She was able to corner the Octoling and splat her instantly. Swimming back around to the ramps, she noticed the Octoling that ran away when Bailey had her priorities mixed up, and Capri winced at how quick Bailey splatted the Octoling.

It went quiet as Bailey hid behind the wall, trying to steel her nerves. The drone came down to her level, and Marie instantly saw Bailey trying to hide the panic in her eyes. She finally decided to speak up.

“Are you okay Bailey?” Bailey jolted from Marie say her name instead of Agent 4. She looked into the camera but hastily looked away, blushing.

“Yeah. I’m fine. I’m listening out while I take a breath since all you’re doing is pointing out the obvious.” She moved closer to the edge once Capri moved the drone away.

“From where you’re standing, the Octoling’s behind the Zapfish. Plus Splash Wall at the bridge. You should be able to grab the Zapfish and run back without the Octoling picking up that you’re there.” Capri could see the Octoling stare at the drone as she flew it around. The grin on Bailey’s face grew as she turned, throwing a bomb and diving for the Mini Zapfish. She took no time to wait for the Octoling to notice as a spray of ink pellets splatted her.

“Where’s the last one?” Marie pondered, forgetting the thing she told Bailey at the start. They could hear Bailey mutter something, mainly about a light, until she caught sight of the last Mini Zapfish. Her grin returned, and nimby jumping around the Splash Wall on both sides of the bridge, she tackled and splatted the Octoling, grabbing the final Mini Zapfish.

“Great job Bailey!” Capri smiled with glee as Bailey jumped out the gate. There was something about Bailey’s reaction that worried Marie, yet she never spoke out about it. “There should be enough time to beat the Octoweapon here before DissaQuart battle.” Marie could still see Bailey was shaking.

“Well, she has done a lot these past two days.” Marie commented, resulting in Bailey’s ears perking up. “Plus I need to make sure Octavio doesn't respond to our attacks, so Bailey can rest while I think things over.” Bailey looked at Marie as she and Capri walked past, the idol’s sincere smile unnoticed from the blur of flying gold.

As soon as Capri stopped dragging Bailey into her workshop, the younger kid collapsed in the chair at the desk.

“Maybe she was right.” Capri commented. “You look knackered.”

“And we’re not even halfway there.” Bailey airily spat, bringing the same type of grouchiness from travelling to Inkopolis Square. “I really need stamina training...” She finished, sliding down the chair so far that her legs were dangling off. “And better weapons.”

“Well I’ve finished with the Hero Shot and almost finished the ones you’ve already used. Yet I think I could be able to upgrade the Shot one more time.”

“Focus on the others.” Bailey mumbled, sliding off the chair to stand up. “Imma go get food.”

“I’ll text you later!” Capri called out as Bailey walked out, flinging the door open and shuffling out. Capri sighed, looking at the mess around her workshop. The majority of shells, triggers and parts were of the Hero Weapons. She was now fully aware how much effort it was going to take to keep this a secret.


	11. Forth Power

Bailey sat at one of the tables next to Crusty Sean’s Food Truck in a mood she couldn’t describe. She had her phone in her hands but slid it in anger across the table next to the other half of the Seanwich she was eating. It was warmer now, but she still felt cold. Looking up, she could see everyone living their lives, now oblivious to the imminent threat. There were a couple of kids hanging outside the Shoal, and another group walking around. A short-haired bluenette noticed Bailey and tried to grab her friend’s attention away from her phone. Bailey knew these two as Teri and Madeline, friends she originally met online, and gathered the energy to wave as they walked past.

Three kids walked past as Bailey took another bite of the Seanwich. She was so entranced in looking around, it seemed she was judging everyone. The long-haired bluenette had a similar pigmentation discolouration as her, which stopped her thinking she was one of the ‘Big Eight’ since the Bobble Hat and Green Hoodie made her think so. The neon-green girl next to the bluenette showed a drastic height difference. Maybe they were related? The male next to them, however, was a little different, and this piqued Bailey’s interest. A dark teal in colour with Pilot Goggles, a Green V-neck Tee and Trooper Power Stripes to match. His mohawk-like hairstyle - with outward-facing suction cups, ears and face mask was something she swore she had never seen before, but they were becoming more familiar. She took a mouthful out of the drink in her bag, but mid-swig, something clicked. The Octolings she fought. They had rounded ears.

Trying not to spill the drink out her mouth, she sat there, a little shaken, but fumbled for her phone as she remembered something else. Squid Warriors’ Rizzo. She had outward-facing suction cups, rounded ears and a face mask like him. Bailey looked up to find him, but all three were gone.

“Dammit.” She hissed. She tapped back onto the tournament website to find Rizzo, but stumbled across someone else that almost made her scream. The team leader of another group who had already won their qualifying match. She could hear someone talking louder the further her face went into her phone.

“Bailey!” Bailey jolted up, almost losing grip of her phone. Her younger sister, and her team, were standing in front of Bailey.

“Oh, hi V.”

“And I thought you couldn’t shorten the name Ava.” One of the Inklings giggled.

“I thought you’ve already heard me say that before.” Bailey gestured towards the green inkling before continuing to the whole group. “You ready for your match?”

“You bet!” The yellow Inkling jumped up gleefully, almost pushing Ava against the table.

“Jeez Evelyn.” Ava almost hissed, but instantly changed the subject with an enthusiastic tone. “Oh! BB! Did you see?! There was a kid who almost looked like Jasmine!” Bailey glanced over where she originally saw the three, and her eye twitched lightly enough for it not to be noticed.

“Yeah...” Bailey squeaked, more focused on what the Octoling looked like than what the Inkling looked like. She could see the purple Inkling tilt her head slightly at her, which made her cough awkwardly. “I’m fine Rea.”

“Since when is she never worried about someone she knows?”

“You’re one to talk Jessica.” Evelyn pouted. Bailey sunk in her chair slightly, trying not to sigh in boredom as she felt like a mother with four children. She was so focused on finding the Octolings she forgot how tired she was from earlier. She looked down at her phone, noticing the time.

“You guys’ better get going soon.” Bailey pointed out the crowd starting to form outside Deca Tower. She watched the four look at each other with determination before they ran off around the side of the crowd. “Hey Ava!” Ava shimmied to a stop and turned back to her sister. “Try not to hurt yourself out there. And pull down your capris.” Ava looked down at her leg and pulled them down, embarrassed. She looked back up to see Bailey with a rare yet sincere ‘sisterly love’ smile. “Kill it out there sis.” Ava ran back to squeeze Bailey in a hug before dashing off to her team, tripping slightly in the process.

Bailey finished off her Seanwich, cleaned up the mess she made with her drink before putting the bottle in her bag, and gathered everything to find a nice place to see the screens before the crowd got too big. Both teams were seen as generic to everyone, so the crowd was fairly average. She drowned out what everyone was saying, even ignoring the commentators introducing the teams. She was scared that everyone could smell the pride radiating off her, but luckily no one noticed.

A young group with such professional energy.

Evelyn bringing everyone down with her Dualie Squelchers.

Rea helping to tackle the pushers with her .52 Gal Deco.

Jessica’s Splat Brella shielding them from attacks.

Ava using her Splatterscope to pick off the troublemakers.

No one would ever know they were all disabled.

Bailey cheered with the crowd as Rea and Evelyn took down two kids; one after another. She could see Ava poised and ready to shoot, flicking over the third kid and splatting them. The crowd continued to cheer as Jessica launched her shield forward, letting Evelyn take the final kid. Bailey felt like such a proud mother. The three minutes felt like forever, but with all its joy and glory. Ava screamed out at Evelyn to stop focusing on kills now that there was a minute left, since she, as a Charger, should be focused on that. Evelyn was leader, but Bailey led a bias of wanting Ava to be leader. It was an Orca Moon situation, where everyone bar the leader wanted someone else to be the leader.

Bailey took her eyes off the screen as Judd was tallying the results, and could see the boys hanging out around the grate, presumably waiting for her. Sure, she never heard it, but she realised what Astra said when she left. Training. She tried her best not to huff, but scream in glee.

DissaQuart won.

“You ready for training Lee?” Bailey heard Astra call out once the Plaza was back to normal. She casually tried screaming to herself, and tried to contain it as they moved towards her. “Was your phone not on or something?”

“I guess not if I couldn’t hear it...” She shrugged, more focused on waiting for Ava and the rest of DissaQuart. The losing team walked past, and she felt partially sorry for them since they did get beat by three 14 year-olds and a 15-year-old. After seeing the four walk out of Deca Tower, Ava ran up to Bailey, spinning around in a hug.

“Did you see? We actually won our first match!” Bailey looked at the four young gleaming faces, and couldn’t help but smile herself.

“I saw everything. You all looked so profreshional. No one would have known!”

“We’re going to Cafe Cadamari to celebrate.” Rea mentioned, stepping out of the way of an over-excited Evelyn. “Want to join?”

“I would love to, but it’s your win.” Bailey sighed. “And I promised to train with the boys.”

“But why can’t you do it another time?” Ava whined slightly. Bailey bent down slightly to meet Ava’s level, which annoyed the elder over how short she was compared to the two-year difference of her younger.

“Ava, look. You’re 14. You should know that responsibilities exist. This win is a big one for you, and as much as I know you want me there, I’m not part of your team, therefore I don’t need to celebrate.”

“Bailey you can’t complain you literally slept through our win.” Roman called out behind her.

“Maybe next time okay?” Bailey tried her best to ignore Roman, internally cheering that her lie worked. She watched DissaQuart walk towards Downtown Escolar, and turned on her heel to follow Orca Moon.

They had arrived at the practice range behind Ammo Knights, and another team was already there, but off in the distant corner. Everyone dropped their bags, but while rummaging for her Splattershot case, Bailey could feel her phone buzzing. Knowing who was calling, she already knew it was going to be bad.

“I can already tell you want me back there.” Bailey passively hissed. “What happened this time?” In the midst of talking with Astra and Malachai, Roman turned around, intrigued at the girl’s voice. “You saying we need to be sporadic and calling me back two hours after you let me go is not sporadic.” Malachai looked over Roman’s shoulder, watching Bailey continue to look through her bag. “So you do have leads? I just started training with my team though, but I’m right behind Capri’s workshop. I can grab whatever weapon she wants me to have if she can’t join again. I will scream if it’s the Roller though. I’m too tired for that.”

“She’s not talking to Capri?” Astra asked, peeking around the twins.

“Maybe we would know who it is if we were able to hear the voice.” Roman replied, setting down his Heavy Splatling.

“I have tea to spill as well.” There was a short silence. “I have something important to tell you. Yes, that is more or less what it means.”

“We could ask her.” Malachai blatantly put. “But I doubt she would give us a coherent answer.”

“Look, do you want me there or not? Okay fine. I’ll see if Capri’s still in the workshop. See you in a bit.”

Ending the call, Bailey turned around and almost tripped over her bag as she noticed all three of them were staring directly at her.

“You can’t be talking about responsibilities to Ava when you don’t know how to figure them out yourself.” Roman’s tone was harsh, but Bailey flew past it.

“This isn’t responsibility. It’s priority.” Bailey muttered, picking up her bag again. “I’m sorry, but I have to go. Sorry guys...” She walked past all of them, and shivered at the cold glares she was given. She muttered something under her breath, not thrashing her own team, but something she was clearly annoyed about. Unknown to everyone, it was obvious Marie.


	12. Kung-Fu Swap Out

“I am telling you that there are Octolings on the surface!” Bailey almost screamed out. Marie and Capri had her phone, looking at screenshots she had taken of the tournament website. “Rizzo and Aria aren’t the only two. I saw another one, and he looked nothing like the others.”

“If you’re screaming over that Octoling being male, it is entirely possible.” Capri muttered. Bailey stopped walking around and pulled a face.

“Well, Capri is right.” Marie agreed. “The Octarian Army use a female-exclusive sub-species of Octoling. Who knows who else is down there?”

“But I don’t understand.” Bailey sighed. “How are the others up in Inkopolis?”

“I would only assume they escaped or something.” Capri shrugged. Bailey shunted the dusted ground beneath her and huffed. They stood around the Octoweapon’s kettle, and Bailey, now fully aware how tired she was, was dreading what was ahead.

“Now there’s no time to waste.” Marie ushered Bailey closer to the kettle. “Capri scouted out the area and picked the most practical weapon.”

“This is the moment I chose your fate.” Bailey spat, jumping into the kettle.

The young Inkling spawned in a similarly shaped space as the Octo Oven, yet parts of the area’s perimeter were fenced off. She grabbed the case that flew down, and already knowing what it was judging by the size and shape of the case, stayed almost lethally quiet.

“Guess that was the one she didn’t want...” Marie nervously chuckled, watching Bailey silently jump down to the puddle around the Zapfish. Like the moment with the Octo Oven, a tentacle grabbed the shaken Zapfish, resulting in the puddle lighting up, revealing the thing she had to fight. At first, a heftily sized Roller appeared, before a shadowed blob followed. As the figure emerged from the light, Bailey was faced with the Octo Samurai.

“Yo what the hell is that?!” Capri screamed out. Bailey, unfazed due to fatigue, inked a path as the Octo Samurai waddled towards her. She tried with all her might to swing at the Octo Samurai as it missed its attack. She hit it a couple times before it panicked and jumped back. Running up to it as she dragged her Roller in fatigued pain, she whacked it a couple more times, barely missing the handle of the Octo Samurai’s Roller. She stunned the Octo Samurai again and attempted to refill her ink.

“Watch out Four!” Marie called out, watching the Octo Samurai’s Roller transform into something else.

“Latest Octarian tech I believe.” Capri noted as Bailey popped back out of her ink. “The Octocycle I think it’s called.”

“Okay that’s just ridiculous.” Marie retorted back. Bailey dived out of the way just in time as the Octocycle steamrolled towards her. As it cluttered to a stop, Bailey flicked some more, finally making the Octo Samurai explode into Bailey’s mint-coloured ink. “The tentacle! Wail on it Four!” Bailey’s swings exponentially decreased in speed, and Capri started to realise how tired Bailey was.

“Hey Marie. I think you’ve been pushing her too much.” Capri watched Bailey idly follow the Octo Samurai’s soul as its tentacle regrew. “Want me to go in an’ take over?”

“Please...” Bailey weakly replied. Capri stood there a little shocked. Bailey was like her, a constant ball of energy. The last time she heard her closest friend this physically worn out was at her ninth birthday sleepover.

“I think it could be for the best...” Marie muttered nervously. Capri fumbled for her Hero Blaster that she had on hand - as well as her Hero hoodie, for that added protection - and jumped into the kettle as if she had no time to waste, which was obvious she hadn’t.

“Get back Lee! Quickly! While it’s recovering!” With all the energy she had, Bailey jumped up to the spawn pad, where she superjumped back to Marie. “OH CARP HE’S NOT MESSIN’ ‘ROUND ANYMORE!” Capri squealed out, rushing out of the Octo Samurai’s target range. She zipped up her Hero Hoodie to make sure she didn’t get her tank top ripped. Firing several direct hits into its body, she struggled to get out of the way of its next attack. She looked up to see its eyes light up, almost flash, as it spun around with its roller. Luckily because of how close Capri was to it, she never got hit.

“A spin attack?!” Marie was confused as much as she was shocked.

“Its eyes lit up before it happened...” Capri muttered, continuing to fire her weapon. Before it was able to do it once more, Capri splatted it, revealing its tentacle again. She never stopped blasting as she finally blew up the tentacle.

Jumping back to a safe space, she watched the Octo Samurai respawn for hopefully the last time. It stayed put, and readied up a new attack - in likeness to spiralling pillars or something spinning in general - not stopping as Capri jumped over each flick. Due to the distance, Capri threw out a Splat Bomb to hit it as its Roller faltered. She moved in closer, too close for the Octo Samurai to hit, and never let go of the trigger as it tried to attack. She kept close to it as she knew it would use its spin attack. She made it flail back, making it attempt to spin once more. One final hit and its weak point finally appeared. It was gone within seconds. Through the drone Marie watched the Octo Samurai’s soul struggle to return into its machine, forcing it to explode all over the arena. If it was Bailey, she would have stopped at the weird fish shape between her and the Zapfish, but Capri already knew what Sardinium were.

“Thank you Capri.” Marie smiled.

“That was kind of insane though.” Capri followed the Agent back to Tentakeel Outpost, where Bailey was out cold on the bed inside the cabin.

“Maybe it’s just me, but the Octarian bases feel like they've been given a feminine touch. Maybe they got a new decorator?” Both of them shrugged and chuckled at the thought as they now idled around the cabin. Bailey trudged out the cabin, still tired and dishevelled, but she was holding a hand-held radio.

“This woke me up...” She muttered. “It won't turn off. I feel like someone else is controlling it...” Taking it out of Bailey’s hands, Marie turned up the volume. Someone muttered through all the static.

“...Ruh...Lea...No...”

“Huh?” Marie asked, oblivious to the voice. “This radio’s on the fritz. I swear I just changed the batteries in this thing.”

“More likely radio interference.” Capri commented. “All the metal junk around Octo Canyon is probably generating enough electrostatic to mess with the signal. See if Sheldon was here, he would have been talking about it forever.”

Marie sighed. “You should go back Four. Tomorrow is your next match I believe, so we want to be in the best shape you can be. If not for us, for your team.”

“Sorry to leave you alone, but I should go too. I have some more upgrading to do, and I still need to find those damn trigger coils for Lee.” Capri apologised, hissing the last part of the sentence.

“No, it’s alright.” Marie replied. “I need to sort out what the next steps are.”

“You need to slow down Marie.” Bailey finally spoke. “I know we don't have all the time in the world, but I can tell you’re stressed. I was able to tell from the moment I first met you here. You need to take a break too...” There was a long silence, and a light breeze that rustled the trees around the cabin. Marie sighed.

“Maybe you’re right.” The silence continued. “I’ll talk to you tomorrow though?” Bailey smiled and Capri nodded, both waving goodbye as they took their leave.

Marie sat down, tracing the tip of her parasol through the dirt beneath her feet. She missed Callie, she really did. Knowing how popular she was after the Squid Sisters disbanded did, unavoidably, make Marie a little jealous, but the physical and emotional distance between the two started to dawn on her. Callie then disappeared. Maybe it was her choice? Or, with the sudden disappearance of Octavio, was this his doing?


	13. Brush It Off

“Bailey Ravize!” A recognisable voice acted as Bailey’s alarm. She groaned as she flipped the covers off, clawing herself towards the door.

“What do you want Malachai?” She mumbled, dragging her hand across her face. “It’s way too early to be preparing now...”

“Since you had to bail on us yesterday, we decided to practice now.”

“No, YOU decided to practice now.” Astra grumbled, walking past the door. “Look, ‘Chai, Bailey was the one to notice that the entire squad is just Brushes!”

“Which means they’re either trolls that were luckily enough to win their first match, or they know what they’re doing. If it’s the latter, we’re screwed.” Roman continued, suddenly appearing in Bailey’s sightline. Bailey sighed. She definitely felt a lot more refreshed.

“Well...” Bailey started. “I do owe you guys some practice.” Astra and Roman whipped their heads to Malachai, who simply shrugged in agreement. Closing the door, Bailey moved to the mirror, where all of her clothes were a piled mess over her duffle bag containing her Hero gear. She looked down at her White V-Neck Tee, wondering if she needed to hide her hands again. The rash was definitely gone, but she noticed her hands were scaring. Was it a result of the rash? Shrugging, she slipped on her normal set-up and stuffed her Splattershot and Ink tank in her duffle bag. Opening her door, she tried whacking on the boys’ door, but it swung open instead. She heard Malachai screech as she ran down the stairs in fear and glee.

Now at the practice range, Bailey was the first to notice a lone Inkling in the corner.

“Hey guys?” Bailey muttered as everyone dropped their bags at the door. “You recognise her? She kinda looks like Rea.” This Inkling, who definitely seemed older than the team, had a pair of 18K Aviators resting on the top of her head as she donned a Vintage Check Shirt, a skirt, and a pair of Punk Cherries. She looked up at Orca Moon and gave a quizzical look. She smiled in realisation and went to check her phone.

“Whatever.” Malachai blatantly yet playfully pushed Bailey aside. “C’mon! Let’s practice!”

“But how are we going to practice for a Brush match if there’s no Brushes to go against?” Astra muttered, twirling his Brella as they moved further into the practice range.

“You need help?” The Inkling called out, gaining the attention of the team. “If you’re going up against Sashe B, you must be Orca Moon.” Bailey nodded happily, being the only one who trusted her. “I’m Faith. You’ll know me as the leader of SKAI. I like to use Brushes and Rollers to screw around in casual games. My offer to help still stands.”

“What do you think ‘Chai?” Bailey turned to Malachai, who seemed to be glaring back at her.

“Who died and made you leader Bailey?” He hissed.

“It was your idea to come here in the first place.” Astra reminded him. “Let her help.” Faith chuckled, dropping the demeanor she originally had.

“You remind me of Rea and her team.” She grinned, picking her Kensa Octobrush back up.

“Well I’m Ava’s sister!” Bailey grinned back, spinning her Splattershot.

“We could tag team.” Astra commented. “Like a 1v1, but we swap out after a while.” A silence followed as each of the members looked at each other for approval.

“What are we waiting for!?” Malachai almost screeched, pushing the boys away from Bailey and Faith.

The five Inklings had been on-and-off battling for a couple hours. It was roughly midday at that point, and they only had about one more hour until their match.

“I guess we should probably get going...” Astra sighed, content from the practice.

“We’re just lucky that a ‘certain someone’ didn’t bail again.” Malachai hissed.

“Hey!” Bailey snapped. “Be lucky that I’m here!”

“Who were you talking to when you dipped?” Roman asked, flustering Bailey.

“Capri, of course.” She fumbled, knowing they could see through her lie. “Why does it matter now, when we’re preparing for a match? I wanna go meet Ava before we go in anyway...”

“Tell DissaQuart I said hi.” Faith chimed in as she packed her bag. Bailey looked down at the elder, smiled and nodded. She felt a rumble against her side, and as she realised someone was calling her, she dreaded who it was. Sifting through her bag, she grabbed her phone and picked up the call.

“Hey ‘Lee where are you? I wanted to get to you before your match but I can’t find you anywhere. I just want to show some upgrades. You can bring the boys if you’re with them. It’s just weapon talk. Nothing about Squidbeak.”

“You sure?” Bailey asked a little rhetorically. “Whatever, I’m behind the workshop. I’ll be there in a minute.” She ended the call and walked towards the back entrance of the workshop.

“And where are you going?” Malachai spat.

“Chill ‘Chai. Capri said you can join me. It’ll give you the chance to find out why I’m disappearing all the time.” Bailey almost cooed, resulting in all of them running to her.

“Ew the Shot’s orange now? Why’d you change it?” Bailey asked in disgust. She picked it up and it immediately felt lighter; something she wasn’t used to. “What did you do to it?!”

“Higher fire rate. I had to change some of the mechanics because I know what you’re like.” Capri chuckled. “Added a back handle for higher support and handling. I think the weight has to do with the fact that I had to change the shells.”

“What are you doing this for?” Astra asked as he moved around on the chair at the desk.

“Sheldon’s asked me to prototype some new weapons. I doubt they’ll be able to sell soon, hell at all.” Capri responded, dragging out a Slosher with the same black and lime green design. Astra looked over at Roman, who pondered why Capri would need Bailey’s help. “You’ll be using this next ‘Lee; the only other new one for now would be the Splatling.”

“So you want me to get you more info on..?”

“The ‘Shot, Dualies and Charger.” Bailey shrugged, knowing she could use all three decently. “But judging how you’re handling the ‘Shot right now, I can tell you’ll have a degraded performance with the ‘Shot. The shell is from another manufacturer okay!”

“Do you know when I’ll be needed back?” The youngest mumbled, handing the upgraded Hero Shot back to Capri,who stored it away with the Hero Slosher. She simply shrugged, making Bailey sigh. “Sure. Fine. I’ll say an hour after our match. If I’m needed before then, call me.”

Sashe B were already waiting outside Deca Tower by the time Orca Moon arrived. They all had Brushes in hand, but Bailey picked out one of the members, the leader specifically.

“Teri!?” She called out in shock. “You’re in the tournament!?” Spinning around, the bluenette smiled and waved. The golden blonde bounded up to her, eager to know why she was part of a team, especially without her girlfriend Madeline.

“And you didn’t know, despite checking the website?” Malachai asked sarcastically.

“You’re extremely grouchy towards Bailey today...” Astra muttered, noticing Malachai’s change of demeanor towards the team’s youngest. “Besides, I know her. She checks what, not who.”

“I know how Teri battles, so this should be a good match.” Bailey spoke, rubbing her hands evilly as the two teams walked in to start.

“The two teams, Orca Moon and Sashe B, will be giving all they’ve got on Humpback Pump Track.” The announcers started as the eight readied up on their Spawnpads. Bailey was already eager to jump off, her hearts already pumping with adrenaline. “Can Sashe B party their way to victory before Orca Moon’s Bailey can single handedly take them out? There’s only one way to find out. The match will start in...” Bailey drowned out the numbers again. Her body screamed for the word ‘GO’. Flying off the Spawnpad, she raced her way towards the centre mound.

“Stand your ground Zeta. Gamma will swap supports if needed.” Malachai called out into his earpiece as he flew across the right side of the track.

“Doubt she’ll need it. They’re the trolls we thought they were.” Roman responded, following Astra along the left side of the track. Bailey didn’t even have the chance to blink for Drift and Catalina to appear around her.

“Uhhh I’m so confused right now.” Bailey tried shooting at the two, but even with her pinpoint accuracy, she still struggled to hit them as they weaved around her. “Alpha we’ll need to AutoDown pretty quickly.” She managed to hit Catalina a couple times, since her shark tail made her a bigger target. However, Drift managed to get away, giggling to himself.

“They don't care about kills!” She screamed out, hopping off the mound towards Sashe B’s spawn.

“Zeta pressure them. We’ll deal with the target.” Astra replied, moving away from Roman. “Ugh they can’t be serious with this!” Bailey looked around, watching Mika glide towards Malachai. She paved her way to Mika, looking out for the others.

“Careful Alpha.” Bailey stopped to watch the rest of the team mess around the centre mound. “I think the OB isn’t joking around.” Sinking into her ink, she hopped between puddles to avoid the sound of her shooting alerting them. She dropped a Burst Bomb in the centre as she waited for them to be in range. The sound of the Burst Bomb brought Teri, Drift and Catalina closer, and Bailey sparked, jumping up with a Splashdown and splatting all three of them.

“Orca Moon’s Splattershot is back at it again!” Bailey overheard the announcers. Claiming the ground as her own, she pushed forwards, waiting for Malachai to finish off Mika. “Can they take it back in this last minute!?”

“Last minute!?” Bailey screamed out. Meeting up with Malachai, Astra pulled up his shield to avoid Mika’s attack.

“They’ve been messing with us for that long?” Roman sighed. Bailey ambushed Mika, splatting her, letting Orca Moon move forwards. Despite their efforts of pressuring, Sashe B still got out of spawn, forcing Orca Moon to re-cover their tracks.

“Focus on the target!” Astra forceful put. “It’s too late to worry about kills!” Each member of Orca Moon focused on a member of Sashe B, making sure everything was indigo.

It ended up being a landslide. 76.1% to 18.3%.


	14. Cafe Cooldown

One by one, Orca Moon walked out of Deca Tower, and Bailey was quick to notice Sashe B standing off to the side, talking amongst themselves. Being friends, she knew what Teri’s dejected and defeated body language meant, and knew she shouldn’t beat herself up over their loss. Turning back, Ava was at Astra’s side, giggling at the sight of Evelyn and Malachai messing around.

“Looks like they found us first.” Roman smiled at Bailey, protecting both Rea and Jessica from Malachai’s flailing arms.

“Hey, Rea?” The purple girl looked up at the now golden-blonde. “Did you ever tell Faith about us?”

“You met Faith?” Rea replied, a little shocked. “Earlier today?” She couldn’t see Bailey, obviously, but she assumed there was an agreement. “Ava doesn’t say much about Orca Moon, so I have nothing to recall when I go home.” Bailey shrugged, understanding the reason. She just wanted to hear her calm and collectively posh-like accent. “I do recommend we start moving towards Cadamari. Who knows if there is any space?” Evelyn bounded off, Jessica and Malachai on her tail. Roman walked off with Rea, Ava and Astra, leaving Bailey pondering.

“I still can’t believe Rea has succeeded this much while blind...” She smiled, running after the group.

Sitting at one of the only tables of eight in the cafe, the boys were doing their own thing. Malachai was complaining to his phone about the tournament, Astra was typing something, and Roman was watching a video. Bailey was idly watching DissaQuart, intrigued in what they were doing.

“Do you know what we’re doing?” Ava asked, realising her sister had been staring for a couple of minutes. Bailey raised an eyebrow, which Ava instantly knew was a sarcastic ‘What do you think?’. “It’s kinda like a team exercise.” Ava continued. “Evelyn and I help Rea to search for the crayons, you know, to help with her echolocation, then when they’re all in a pile, we help Jessica sort them.”

“But isn’t Jessica that type of-”

“Yes, she is an achromatope.” Rea cut Astra off, knowing no one could say that word. Twitching her ears, she fumbled for the crayon that was teetering on the edge of the table. “The idea is for her to know the brightness of the common shades used in battle since saturation and hue are useless to her.”

“But what about you and ‘Lyn?” Bailey asked back to Ava, twirling one of the crayons Rea had missed.

“Ours are normally field practice. I focus on mobility, mainly using the exercises I was ‘prescribed’, and Eve’ focuses on hearing out for Bombs and stuff. It’s pretty effective!”

“Pretty effective in blowing you up.” Jessica chuckled. Evelyn whined, swapping two crayons that Jessica had misplaced. “Thanks ‘Lyn.”

“Are we going to order food?” Roman finally spoke.

“I mean, we could go and deal with Malachited Seanwiches.” Astra replied.

“Hey, they were amazing!” Malachai boasted.

“Ava threw up.” Bailey blankly looked at Malachai. “And I almost did too.”

“They tasted like energy drinks, iron and rotten apples...” Ava whined, slouching in her chair and dragging her arms across the table. There was a weird silence as everyone tried to process what she just said.

“Weirdly specific.” Evelyn chimed in.

“But vaguely accurate...” Bailey muttered back. The door chime rang and Bailey caught a glimpse of Mariana Snow walking in. Waiting until they were in line, Bailey quickly hopped up and galloped over to Capri, much to Orca Moon’s protests.

“So?” Evelyn asked to break the tension. “Food?”

“Oh hey ‘Lee.” Capri already knew what Bailey was there for. “Haven’t heard anything from Two, if ya’ wondering. I’m suspecting she’ll want you to hold out for a bit.”

“Why? I can go in now!” Bailey replied a trifle enthusiastic. Capri chuckled.

“Tell that to the weather.” Capri held out her phone, set on the weather app. Taking the phone, Bailey realised what the problem was.

“48-hour storm.” She sighed, giving the phone back. “I guess Iiyama’s gonna struggle...”

“They’ll be focusing on matches with inside stages.” Capri was quick to reply. “But there will be extra leniency wait in between matches, so only a couple of matches could take up the entire allotted space. I’ll text you some extra deets’, and if Two says anything.”

“Thanks Capri!” Bailey left with a hug, carefully weaving her way through the cafe now there was an increase of customers.

“Went to talk about your thing again?” Astra asked, sliding over a bowl of jellyfries. “Made sure ‘Chai wasn’t taking them.”

“Oh please, I’ve always had ‘Chai nicking my food. I’m used to it.” Bailey swiftly grabbed the bowl, cleverly ignoring Astra’s question.

“He’s a weirdo when it comes to food!” Ava agreed, dropping the gherkins from her burger into Bailey’s bowl.

“Says the gherk-out’er.” Malachai mumbled with a mouth full of jellyfries.

“Says the kid who ate a pizza that had been sitting in the rain for half an hour. Jeez your stomach must be made of steel.” Roman spat back.

“Say, talking about rain...” Bailey tried to take the conversation while she had the chance. “There’s a warning for a storm tomorrow, but it could even start today. Iiyama is still going on, but only with inside stages. Who knows, maybe this will reduce power usage?” Finishing the sentence, Bailey instantly zoned out, more focused on how she was going to spend her time while waiting for the storm to start and stop. The rain would result in no Octarians, unless they have the technology to stay dry. Bailey started to doubt herself, wondering if she would risk her life even further to do something already so deadly during a storm.

“We’d better get going...” Jessica shyly muttered, scrambling up the crayons. “Our match is soon...”

“You’ll watch us right?!” Ava looked up at Bailey. The elder rolled her eyes and smiled.

“We will don’t worry. Just be warned that we may not be able to if the storm starts sooner than tomorrow.” Gleefully smiling, Ava left with the rest of DissaQuart.

“Malachai took the rest of your jellyfries.” Astra pointed to the now-empty bowl in front of Bailey. Bailey shrugged, standing up and collecting her stuff. Malachai and Roman stared at each other a little worried, knowing Bailey hadn’t eaten anything up until then, but even then it was only a handful.

Now outside, the skies were dark and dullen. Many worried the storm would start now, when others prayed for it to hold out.

“We have an interesting lineup here, knowing that SKAI’s leader Faith is DissaQuart Rea’s sister! Will this information limit their motivation, or push them even further?” Bailey gulped. Mariana Snow might be powerful because of their team coordination, but SKAI was powerful because of their brute force. There was a chance for Faith to dim down her ability in pity, but Bailey doubted the others would.

“You worried?” Bailey jolted at the sound of Astra’s voice due to being so focused on the commentary. Bailey pulled a face, waving her hand about as if to say ‘maybe’. There already was a spray of deep purple and vibrant yellow, and sounds of being splatted. It wasn’t looking good for DissaQuart, and it had only been 30 seconds.

However, everyone’s greatest fear struck like literal lightning. Every squid battling stopped.

“Well, it looks like the battle will have to be stopped. We don't want either team getting hurt in the rain.” Inkopolis became barren within seconds. Bailey stood in front of Deca Tower, unfazed. She now feared the worst.

“Bailey come on!” Astra screamed, dragging her with him. It took the team a bit to get to the apartments, and by that time, it had started pouring down with rain.

“Ugh what are we going to do!?” Malachai whined out once the boys were in their room. “Who knows how long this is going to last?”

“I don’t think Bailey will last this...” Astra pointed out, already having noticed the girl’s unusual behaviour. “Something is definitely up with her and what she’s doing with Capri.”

“You think there is something more than just making new weapons?” Roman sighed as he watched Malachai run around trying to find some sort of movie to watch. Astra shrugged, pulling out his phone to find Iiyama matches to rewatch.

“Oo! 2014’s Semifinals: Mariana Snow Vs SKAI! This must have been a good match up.”

“Well put it on then!” Malachai wafted his arms about, slumped onto the fairly aged sofa.

“Marie, we’re in big trouble.” In the opposing room, Bailey was panicking. With no way to help because of the storm, the Octarians could level out and regain the upper hand. “I can’t stand to watch. I want to help! I need to help!”

“You need to calm down.” Marie cooly yet firmly replied. With the bonus of being older, Marie was the authority figure to Bailey. “We have a chance to see how they respond to what we have done.” They could both hear rain from the ends of the Cuttlefish Cabin and the tournament apartments. Bailey focused on this, and it instantly calmed her. “All I’ll say is be careful talking to me. Who knows if your team is over-hearing what we are saying. They’ll be closer to you more often thanks to this storm, so I recommend reducing the amount of calls we have.”

“Okay thanks Mum.” Bailey scoffed. “Either way, it’s a deal. Just text me whenever you want, I guess.” Bailey threw her phone and herself onto the bed, her screaming muffled by the black and cream pillows. Her phone instantly pinged, and she turned her head to the illumination. Capri had sent a picture of a slightly crumpled navy skin suit, with the caption ‘Sending this to ya <3’. Not knowing what it was, Bailey snatched up her phone to reply, sending a message that said ‘What the carp is that?!’ Capri instantly replied.

‘You’ll find out.’


	15. Midnight Mess Up

Slipping out of her room, Bailey raced downstairs to see what this mystery present was. She bounced her leg around impatiently. If there was any chance of her being able to help during this time, she would take it without a doubt. Soon enough, Capri arrived at the door, a bag dangling off the hook of her umbrella. Bailey tried her best to calmly walk over, eager to know everything about it. Knowing that Capri knew what she was like, Bailey tried staying silent, waiting to answer everything she was thinking about.

“All I’ll say is this is your only chance to continue for now.” Capri handed the bag to Bailey. Not totally understanding, Bailey still nodded, sneaking the bag past her team. Looking at it clearly, it was what it was, a skin tight wetsuit, dull yet a bold navy. What was it for? She was tempted to try it on then and there, but she would risk the rest of Orca Moon finding out.

“Hey Bailey?” Bailey instantly dropped the suit in a panicked frenzy. How did Astra appear so suddenly? “I was going to order some food, because you know, bet and all. The twins said you haven’t eaten much today, so you want something?”

“Seanwich.” Bailey muttered back, picking the suit back up and flinging it onto the bed.

“And a Tropical Mocha Shake?” He asked back. Bailey made a noise in response as she waited for him to leave. She groaned lightly, knowing that she would now have to wait until the food had arrived, otherwise the boys would definitely know something was up. Would it be worth it to try it on now? Taking off her clothes, leaving just her sports bra and shorts, she unzipped the front of the suit and scrambled into it. She was surprised it fit, unaware it was a size 14, rather than all the 16s that devoured her shape. Maybe Capri was paying attention. Bailey stood in front of the mirror, watching the ends of her tentacles dent into the same dull navy as the suit. Something suddenly clicked. Was this waterproof? Running in more of a shuffle, Bailey swung open the window, sticking her arm out. No liquid, no pain. She was right!

A light knock at the door shook Bailey once again.

“Bailey? You there? Food’s here.” Astra called behind the door.

“I-I’m getting changed!” Bailey stuttered, trying to think of an excuse for Astra to drop the food and leave. “Can you leave it by the door?” The door creaked open slightly, and Bailey watched Astra’s hand place the bag and cup down. “Thanks!” Once the door closed, Bailey unzipped the top half the suit, just in case she got any food on it. She grabbed the bag and the cup, placing it on the bedside table. Knowing that she wouldn’t get much sleep, she tried to eat as much as she could then, savouring the drink rather than the Seanwich. While chewing, Bailey wondered why she picked the Seanwich, but came to the reason that it would probably give her the most energy. Mid-bite, once again, something clicked. If she took a nap now, she could sneak out at night and do the mission then, completely energised. She just hoped Orca Moon wouldn't try to get into her room.

Finishing the Seanwich and downing what was left of the drink - and obviously changing back, she grabbed her phone and made her way to the boys’ room, quickly setting an alarm to hopefully wake her up. Granted, it was pretty late anyway, so Bailey didn’t doubt they were already asleep, despite the fact that she couldn’t hear Malachai’s snoring. She knocked lightly on the door, with no response. Assuming wasn’t good enough in this situation, so Bailey creaked open the door, surprised to hear nothing. Maybe she was right. Closing the door, Bailey rushed back, dropping her phone down and planting herself into her bed, as she fell into an excited slumber.

Grabbing her phone and threatening to throw it across the room, Bailey was now awake. Groggily, she got changed, putting the suit on first for obvious reasons. Finding something dark to wear, she looked for something warm too. Black Cuttlegear LS. How ironic. How perfect. She fought to put it on, but patted it down once it was there. She grabbed and zipped up her bag, which was filled with her luminescent Hero gear, and left the room, slipping out of the complex too. It took a bit to get to Octo Canyon, but slowly moving the grate, Bailey’s main fear now was knowing where Marie was. It was still raining, but it was fine and light compared to Inkopolis’ heavy showers. Sneaking past the windows, Marie was fast asleep on the bunker bed, wearing what Bailey assumed was under her kimono. There was no longer any service out here, so Bailey prayed Capri was already waiting for her. Arriving at Beaker's Depot, she saw who she wanted.

“Wow it actually fits.” Capri chuckled.

“Yea, whatever.” Bailey scoffed back, metaphorically ripping her Black Cuttlegear LS off as she swapped it for her Hero gear. “Any new weapons?”

“You’ll get the Slosher when you get in.” Is all Bailey heard Capri say as she jumped through the grate.

The now-greenette waited for the suitcase to arrive. Grabbing it, she could feel the slight heftiness of the Slosher, and with a pep in her step rushed towards the Launchpad.

“The mood lighting definitely fits doesn’t it?” Capri giggled as she scanned around, watching Bailey fling ink onto a sponge to climb up it. “A little creeptastic.” Bailey, having learnt tricks by now, splatted an Octotrooper and destroyed some boxes with a single Splat Bomb. She looked back on the ride rail as she zoomed across it, and noticed the ink dissipating much quicker than normal.

“Ugh this isn’t good.” Bailey hissed, turning back around.

“What, the Octoseekers?”

“I didn’t even see them!” She squealed, diving behind cover. There was a long communicable silence. “Uhh what do they do?..” Capri sighed.

“Wanna find out?” Bailey could hear the daringness in Capri’s voice, and it made her stutter back slightly.

“Do I have to?” She squeaked. Watching the Octoseeker roam back and forth, Bailey threw a splash out at the other side of the platform. It recognised the green floor-blob and flew towards it, and after a couple seconds - as Bailey took down the Octotrooper on the other side of the platform, slammed down into the ground. “What the hell?!”

“Quick! Up that wall before it notices you!” The agent heeded her friend’s warning, scrambling up the wall and kicking the box up there in the process. “Unnoticeable now!” Capri gleamed as Bailey jumped off again.

“Ugh is this whole place filled with these things?” Bailey looked up at the Octoseeker, who seemed to be roaming around a centre area.

“Looks like it.” Capri replied, the camera drone flying past. “There’s a locked vault up ahead. Thinking the key’s on the other side of this thing.” There was another silence between the two as Bailey took out another Octotrooper. Capri screamed, which led Bailey to stop in her tracks. “Look out!” Bailey snapped her head around, on heightened edge, worried why Capri would be scared.

A warped siren followed above Bailey’s head, and her heart dropped as time stopped once more. With the rain washing away her only fast escape route, Bailey had no choice but to run. Throwing the Slosher towards the vault, she skidded against the corner, only to fall into the void below. A tear fell with her as she clenched her eyes shut, waiting to embrace death.

...

...

“You okay ‘Lee?” Bailey opened her eyes. The void. Midnight blue still engulfing her neon lime frame. She could feel a cold metal surface below her; too shaken to recognise what it was. “Bailey? You’re safe. It’s fine.” Turning her head, she could see a platform with a couple boxes. “I’ll take you there.” Capri could hear Bailey calming down as she placed the agent down next to the boxes.

“The drone...” Bailey shook out. “You caught me with the drone.”

“I should have looked further ahead...” Capri winced.

“No.” There was a long silence.

“I’ll go pick up the Slosher for you.” Capri gingerly replied as the drone whirred away. In a fit of pain, fear and anger, Bailey threw a Splat Bomb against the floor. It exploded both boxes next to her, which revealed a Sunken Scroll. “Wow haven’t seen a scroll in a while. Are they always in disclosed locations or something?” Bailey shrugged, taping the scroll to the drone just so she wouldn’t have to carry it. Grabbing the Slosher, she superjumped back up to the main area.

“Back at the spawn?” Bailey sighed, a little tired from her heart rate flying like the drone. “Whatever.” Watching out for the Octoseeker’s location, she continued forward. She always made sure to stay behind it. Making sure the sponges made her a clear path, she quickly gave meaning to a nearby Octotrooper and vandalised a bunch of storage.

“It’s in there somewhere. It has to be.” Capri narrowed her eyes at the screen. “Watch out when you come out.” Bailey grabbed the key and stayed at the doorway, watching a magenta trail sprinkle like rain.

“I have enough time to backtrack.” Bailey noted, quickly swimming back over the sponges towards the vault.

“Oo a Balloon Fish.” Bailey could hear Capri smiling just from that sentence. The agent threw a Burst Bomb at it, letting the explosion enlarge the sponges. “Seems like this whole section is filled with sponges though. Please be careful...” Bailey continued to throw everything the Slosher had at the Balloon Fish, even clearing some Octotroopers out of the way. It was like this for a while, and Bailey now got the hang of treading lightly; checking for gaps in the floor made by sponges.

“The whole area’s covered with octo-ink! Where am I supposed to go?” Bailey asked, watching the drone zoom about, above the Octoseeker for extra security.

“Deal with those brats first and it’s on the other side of the pillar. Careful with the sponges though.” Dropping down to the second section, Bailey could see she somehow aggravated the Octoseeker, and forced her way around in a circle to avoid being hit. “It looks like you need to get on top of it. Think the sponge is big enough to get onto that centre platform?” Calming down from a mini heart attack, the agent in question lobbed a Splat Bomb at the sponge, which was just enough to get up.

“Ahhh this feels weird...” She stuttered from the turbulence of jumping onto the Octoseeker. Luckily, she wasn’t on there for long as she jumped off towards the next Spawn Pad.

“Good job distracting those ‘Troopers ‘Lee, but you have a problem.” Capri pointed out, but Bailey was quick to realise.

“Just slosh and run.” She grinned, finding the next Launchpad in seconds.

With the Zapfish now in sight, Bailey was tempted to rush towards it, but the lack of terrain made her hesitant. Luckily, being a quick thinker, she knew the Octoseeker would trigger if anything her colour was in its sights. If she could lure it towards her current position with the Balloon Fish, she would have enough time to hide for a second explosion to cover what the Octoseeker removed. However once she slid towards the Launchpad without detection, she realised she can overthink things, and this was one of those moments.

“Sorry about that moment...” Capri still felt guilty. Bailey put a finger to her friend’s lips and cocked her head with a smile. “Same time tomorrow?”

“Same time tomorrow.”


	16. Golden Girls

Bailey poked her head out the manhole, and despite it being a valid time to be awake, the skies were still completely clouded over. She was lucky she was still wearing her wetsuit, as it was raining harder than the night before.  
“Just have to pray they’re still asleep.” She muttered to herself, grabbing the Brella out of her bag as she slinked her way across the Square back to the Apartments. The Square was barren, and it made the lone kid shudder, more so than her first time at the Canyon. Arriving in the lobby, she looked at her phone a couple more times, just to check if the team had noticed and tried to contact her. Nothing. Lucky. With light padded footsteps, Bailey ran up the several flights of stairs and back into her room, flinging the wetsuit off and slipping in her pyjamas. She thought, as she was getting changed, that wearing her gear at this time might look a bit suspicious, so wearing her sleepwear suggests she just woke up.

Catching her breath, Bailey walked up to the knocking door, after hearing someone mutter something to themselves.  
“Oh, hey Astra.” Bailey yawned as she opened the door.  
“You’re up early.” Astra noticed the lack of dishevelment of his younger, and obviously had questions that weren’t going to be answered. “And that blue doesn’t fit you.”  
“Could say the same about you...” Bailey muttered, idly scratching her face. “And wow my feelings are hurt.” She dramatically grabbed her chest to signify emotional pain, however it reminded her to change back to her natural gold. There was a small silence as she looked to the ground and shuffled her leg around. “The twins awake?” Astra straightened his mouth and shook his head, instinctively making Bailey open the door further, letting him in. “I guess you can vibe in here for now. We’ll just wait for ‘Chai to scream his head off.”

Letting Astra take the bed, Bailey made sure her Hero gear wasn’t visible before lying across the floor.  
“It’s been a while since we’ve met up with Capri, like before Iiyama and all.” Astra noted. “Is that why you’re spending so much time with her? I never thought you were the weapon-mechanic type.”  
“I guess I was the first person she stumbled across once everything was set up...” Bailey nervously chuckled. “But I can still see it in her eyes...even after all this time...”  
“Camilla?” There was another silence once Astra mentioned the name. Bailey slowly nodded. “She’s been gone for years...”  
“And she still hasn’t moved on. She’ll never get a girlfriend if she keeps focusing on Cam’...”  
“But what about you?” Bailey sat up in shock.  
“Me and-? Astra, you know the three of us were like sisters!”  
“Okay, okay, fine!” He chuckled nervously. “I was joking. Just make sure Capri is okay.”

In the lingering silence, the door slammed open, startling the both of them greatly.  
“Jeez! The both of you! I could hear you in my sleep!” A very groggy Malachai started to ramble.  
“Realistically, the only thing to be heard in sleep is your snoring.” Bailey giggled.  
“Ugh, whatever.” Malachai hissed. Bailey now felt more on edge. She knew Astra would try to peacefully communicate if he found out where she was going; sure Roman might be a bit stern, but she knew Malachai would rant all over the place. She had to be careful.  
“So what are we going to do today?” Astra asked, genuinely curious. Malachai shrugged, playing with his dress-length shirt. “Well, apart from waiting for our match.” Bailey kind of sat there awkwardly, zoning out her surroundings.  
 _I have time. One more mission before everything normalises. Two if I’m lucky. Will Marie be mad at me? No, they’ll be more angry. Will Capri have to cover me? Again? She deserves-_  
“~Bailey...” The young girl snapped back into reality, staring up from the floor. She looked over at Astra, who chuckled to try and break the tension. “You want food or what?” With a straight face, she rapidly nodded, forcing his chuckle into a laugh.  
“Say...why don't we go back to the Shoal?” Bailey suggested. “We all know you still want those tickets. It’s not that far away so we don’t have to worry about getting wet.”  
“I guess we’ll order food while we wait for Roman to wake up.” Astra sighed. “Then we’ll stay in the Shoal until our battle.”

A small-ish figure lurked behind the door, and Bailey was the first to notice, smiling - almost smirking, forcing the boys to turn around. “Oh hey Capri.”  
“Hi guys!” The elder smiled warmly. “Where’s Roman?”  
“Still asleep.” Bailey chuckled. “We’re gonna go to the Shoal once he’s up.”  
“Well...I need to talk to you for a bit...” Astra and Malachai looked at each other and shrugged, taking their cue to leave. Once the door was closed, both girls stayed cautious of what they said and how loud they were. “You still up for tonight?”  
“Well duh!” Standing up, Bailey made her way to her bags, picking out her normal gear for the day. “But won’t she notice?”  
“I’ll find a way around it.” Capri grinned, flicking through her phone. “Say that the rain made it unguarded, so we took the advantage, even though we both know it wasn’t.” Bailey rolled the sleeves of her top up, ready to put it on, but stopped in an almost deathly silence.

“Capri?”  
“Yeah?”  
“Was I the right choice?” The silence followed. Bailey finished putting her shirt on.  
“What do you mean?”  
“Do you think someone else should be doing this instead of me? Like what about Morgan? Or someone else?..Or even you?”  
“Doubting yourself ’Lee?” The elder chuckled, trying to bring light to the situation. “She’s told me everything she knows about you, even some things I didn’t know! She wouldn’t change you for anyone. She knows you know Elisae.” Bailey mumbled something, using her feet to play around with her shoes. “But in your eyes, she hasn’t put into consideration your skill, your adaptive nature, your speed, your-”  
“Okay. Capri. I get it...” Bailey scoffed, rubbing her face with her sleeves, determined not to cry. “But why did she have to pick someone signing up for Iiyama? Surely someone else that didn’t have that added pressure would have been better...”  
“Clearly, that seemingly bad decision runs in the family. The Captain picked Morgan because of who she was. She did have nothing to lose though.”  
“But I do!” Capri could hear Bailey’s tears, and instinctively went to hug her, something that Camilla would often do. “I don’t want to lose you- or- or Orca Moon- or-”  
“With the rate we’re destroying all those Octarians, you don’t have to worry about anything- well, losing anyone at least.” Bailey could feel a welcoming, almost motherly pain resonate within her. Capri was right. She had to keep pushing forward.

“I was right.” Bailey snapped her head around to stare down a visibly giddy Astra. Seeing the redness in her eyes, he backed away slowly. But in a way, Bailey chuckled.  
“What’s so funny?” Capri asked, pulling Bailey away. Bailey looked at Astra, and back at Capri, and shrugged, full well knowing what was going on.  
“Food’s here by the way.” Astra pointed out, lingering back into view. “The twins have already scoffed theirs, which considering we’re goin-”  
“Going to the Shoal. Isn't a great idea.” Bailey smugly grinned from cutting Astra off. The male rolled his eyes too, smiling just like the girls. “You coming with us Capz’?”  
“Wait you sure Mariana Snow will be okay with this?” Astra pointed out. He noticed a couple crumbs on his shirt and brushed them off, watching them fall to the floor.  
“Phieo’s chill with any of us suddenly disappearing. She’s kind of used to it thanks to Leya.” Between the two interacting, and despite Astra’s surreal ability to know his surrounding area, neither noticed Bailey was out of the room until a femininely male yell came from the other room, screeching the surname ‘Ravize’. “See you at the Shoal then?” Astra rolled his eyes again, grinning in agreement.

Thanks to the lack of kids, and the barren wasteland that was the outside world, the Shoal didn’t have the same excitement. Despite this, Orca Moon, and Capri, took the full opportunity of this space. Malachai flung himself back onto the dance machine and Astra took his place on Squid Beatz 2. Roman, Bailey and Capri just lounged around, watching them waste their energy.  
“Pretty sure this is a bad idea.” Roman chuckled, Bailey following. “If they’re going to be wasting their energy like this, they better win the match.”  
“Isn’t it against Dazzlites?” Capri asked. Bailey gulped; less about the team’s power, and more about Mira, the quiet member Bailey was starting to realise was an Octoling. “I’ve seen what they’re like. You guys will be fine.” The youngest found her eyes on a coin slot machine of sorts. She walked over to it and tested her luck with the couple coins she found pocketed in her duffle bag. She dropped one in and watched it fall down the backdrop, resting on the platform with a satisfying audible twinkle. It almost made her whole world fade away, realising she was at peace with the slow whirring and the pastel coloured area, but reality snapped at her once she saw the small tray of Cash at her feet. Smiling rather nostalgically, despite her not knowing why, she dropped another one in as she collected the Cash in a small disposable pot used for these types of machines. As she stood up, she noticed, among the other gifts and charms resting above the sea of glistening gold, a key chain of the Siren’s Flow logo. It was fairly close to the edge, so Bailey found a goal in sight instead of idly dropping coins onto a backlogged conveyor belt. A figure slowly appeared at her side.

“What ya up to?” Capri muttered warmly, watching with Bailey the coins fall like rain.  
“I want to get-” Bailey let go of a breath she did not know she was holding as she watched a chunk of the Cash fall to her feet. “That.” Thanks to the prior attempt, the key chain was teetering at the edge, the plastic coating shining in strips from the surrounding lights. Despite the metal underneath moving at a continuous pace, the chain would not slip up. From her now overflowing pot, Bailey slotted a couple coins in at the same time, hoping the grouped force would push it over the edge. Alas, they only piled up upon another, and Bailey sighed. Getting up to this point had taken her up to the hour, where the boys now had their focus on other games, and she had been stuck like this for another quarter. Astra, who had compiled enough tickets to put Malachai’s collection to shame, was now waiting with the girls to see if Bailey could finally collect the key chain before they had to leave.  
“It would be painful to see if it gets caught against the edge.” Astra noted the lack of security in the glass chamber, mainly around the corners.  
“After all this time.” Capri replied. “Still surprised you’ve got Cash to continue.” Bailey dropped two more coins. One had jolted the chain, but like Astra almost predicted, it got caught against one of the corners, the logo suspended from the place it was stuck. Smashing the pot down onto the glass top, Bailey whined in desperation as she slumped down to the carpeted floor. At this point Capri had disappeared, and after Astra was frivolously slapped for speaking the inevitable, a young girl, an employee nonetheless, had noticed this play out. Walking over, she was able to reach in to grab it, as well as arrange the coins more evenly for later players. Bailey stopped saying ‘thank you’ after about the seventh time, and after finding the twins on some sort of shooting game, the five left the Shoal content.

“I’ll be watching the match!” Capri gleefully called out as Orca Moon scuttled towards Deca Tower. “Inside...” She added sheepishly. Bailey was now scared, thinking she would end up focusing on ‘Who’, rather than ‘What’.


End file.
